


But Still, He Loves Me

by AzureMist



Category: Layton Kyouju Series | Professor Layton Series
Genre: 30 Day OTP Challenge, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Anxiety, Banter, Closeted Character, Dancing, Domestic, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, Jealousy, M/M, Romance, binge eating, lucrow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-12-30 02:47:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 20,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18306647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzureMist/pseuds/AzureMist
Summary: No matter what happened, at least Luke and Crow knew that the other loved him unconditionally. (Even when Luke was at his whiniest, and when Crow was being a gremlin.)—Doing the alphabet 30-day challenge by @uhmmmsweetie on tumblr with Lucrow, with each prompt being a ficlet.





	1. Age

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: When you’re a teenager and in a relationship, finding time to be alone with your significant other is harder at that age than any other.
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Teens

Being in a relationship, as a teenager, can be a pain. As children, if anyone had found out Crow and Luke were crushing on each other, they’d find it cute. Children’s first crushes were seen as precious, and overall harmless. As adults, nobody would really be able to control what they did. While, sometimes, that may mean Luke trying to eat an entire cake on a whim (and it probably would), it could also mean being together as often as they wanted. But… Being a teenager was known for its struggles with privacy. With kids their age being considered hormonal and dangerous, adults seemed to be around every corner to keep an eye on them, which was, of course, a problem when you were in a romantic relationship. It was hard to hold hands and talk honestly when Luke and Crow were never by themselves. Even when they were, someone always said something like, “Keep the door opened!”, that ruined the illusion of it. Being alone together; truly, honestly alone together, without someone lurking around to keep an eye on them; was something to be treasured.

A shame it almost never happened.

Because of that, whenever Luke was visiting Misthallery, and Clark asked for him to pick some food up from the market for him, Luke always felt his heart well up with excitement. Crow, along with the rest of the Black Ravens, were almost always hanging around the market; and, while being with Crow and his friends wasn’t exactly the same as being alone, it was certainly better than usual. Mainly because there were no adults around to give them dirty looks for leaning a bit too close together (well, except for Aunt Taffy, but she didn’t really watch over what the children did).

Crow spotted Luke the moment he entered the market, and ditched his conversation with Marilyn to greet him, gripping both of Luke’s hands with that mischievous glint that he had in his eye when he had a plan. “Hey, Bluebird! Your old man coming?”

Luke chuckled, his face flushing a bit from Crow holding his hands (he normally wasn’t this forward). “No.”

“Is he expecting you back anytime soon?”

“No, he didn’t tell me to hurry or anything… But I’m not going to participate in whatever illegal activity you’re planning because of that.”

Crow let go of one of Luke’s hands to lead him with the other, tugging him along north. “It’s not illegal, just trust me!!”

“The last time you told me to ‘just trust you’, I ended up getting my nice clothes wet and lost my hat in the lake.” Despite his halfhearted arguing, Luke went along with Crow, if only because of how excited his boyfriend seemed.

As he followed, Luke silently guessed where Crow could be taking him. When Crow helped him down the tunnel, and into the Black Market, Luke figured he probably found something to sell that he thought was cool. (He’d done something similar to this when he’d gotten his hands on a signed, first-edition version of a popular book.) But Crow didn’t even pause once he got to the Black Market, and let go of Luke’s hands for a moment to open the big, rusted door to the bazaar.

Luke was out of ideas as to what could be so important by then, and just followed Crow into the spacious, but worn down bazaar. Crow practically pulled him down with him when he sat down on the auctioning stage’s steps, which earned a laugh, because of how enthusiastic Crow was being about the whole thing.

“Okay, okay, I’m stumped,” Luke admitted, when Crow stared at him expectantly, like he was supposed to know what this was. “What’s got you so excited?”

“Come on,” Crow sighed, tugging lightly at Luke’s sleeve. “Don’t you get it?”

“I just said I didn’t!”

“Luke…” Crow said, with an exasperated tone, with a light blush on his face. He leaned forward, wrapped his arms around Luke’s middle, and then pulled him closer, keeping his hands on Luke’s back. “We’re alone.”

Luke took a moment to process this before his face flushed red, his eyes going wide and his heart skipping a beat. They were alone, weren’t they? The windows were too dirty to see out of, and nobody (kid or adult) had any reason to come back here when there wasn’t an auction going on…

Crow smiled to himself when he saw Luke get flustered, and leaned in for a kiss, which Luke met him halfway for. Crow tightened his arms around Luke’s waist, and Luke wrapped his arms around Crow’s shoulders.

It was nice to be alone together, no matter what. But at this age, it was something to be treasured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! I thought I’d take on the 30 day challenge, seeing as how there isn’t enough Lucrow content, and I need to get back into writing regularly. The notes at the beginning of each chapter will include a summary of the chapter, any warnings for it, and what age Luke and Crow are supposed to be (children, teens or adults). The end notes are for any possible thoughts I had on the chapter, and to remind you, as always, to please comment!!


	2. Bath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Luke goes sunbathing, and wakes up with a huge, red sunburn on his back, where he had let Crow put the sunscreen on him. It certainly doesn’t help his case that Crow is being a smug piece of garbage about the whole thing.
> 
> Warning(s): Bickering
> 
> Age: Adults

“CROW, I’m going to KILL YOU!”

“Welcome home, babe.”

Crow looked up from his book, to look at the door from his place on the hotel bed, and, just has he expected, Luke was in the doorway, with his swimming trunks on, and what looked to be a killer sunburn, on his shoulders and seeming like it went down the majority of his back. His face was bright red, too, but probably from something other than sunburn.

Crow tried to smile innocently, though it still radiated smugness. “Wow, looks like you got sunburnt. Don’t you know you should have someone else put sunblock on your back for you?”

Luke slammed the door behind him in response, loud enough to make Crow jump a little bit. “YOU were the one I asked to put sunblock on my back!” Luke exclaimed (not quite yelling, because they were in a hotel, after all).

Crow tilted his head, raising an eyebrow. “Was I? Man, I must not have done a good job, huh?” He put the book down on the bed, page-down to save his spot, and then sat up properly. “That must be so very upsetting for you.”

Luke picked up a pillow that was set on a chair next to the door, and threw it at Crow’s face. Crow could have caught it, but chose to just let it hit him, then set it by his book, laughing. “Feisty!” he teased.

“Shush it, you!” Luke ordered, before crossing his arms. “What was the point of this little prank?! Is this because I called you a bird furry earlier? Because that was a joke!”

Crow shook his head. “It’s not because of the bird furry thing, though, come to think of it, it probably should have been. And bold of you to assume it was a prank.”

“What else would this be other than one of your dumb little pranks?”

“Well, judging by your reaction, you haven’t seen your back yet, have you, Bluebird?”

“Don’t ‘Bluebird’ me,” Luke grumbled, before raising his voice again. “And I don’t need to see it to know it’s totally burnt! I feel asleep on the beach, jerk!”

Crow tried not to laugh, and it came out as a snort. He finally stood up to meet Luke, and grabbed his wrist. “Just stop your yammering, and look at it!” Before Luke could object, Crow began to pull him into the small hotel bathroom, and flicked the light on with his free hand. Luckily, it only seemed to be Luke’s shoulders and back that were burnt so heavily, so he could touch his wrist without getting sassed about it. But still, Luke pulled his hand away from Crow, still grumpy.

“What’s the point of seeing my back when I already know it’s burnt?”

“Just look!” Crow urged him, and spun him around so his back was facing the mirror. When Crow saw that the messily-drawn heart he had done in sunscreen was very much visible, he grinned. “Hey, it worked!”

Luke turned his head to look in the mirror from hearing Crow’s reaction, and he went quiet for a moment, his irritated expression shifting to surprised. His blush got a bit more prominent, though it didn’t seem to be out of anger, anymore. Crow gave Luke a smug, expectant look.

Luke huffed, and turned to face Crow; crossing his arms again, but his voice only carrying mild annoyance. “Okay, that’s really cute, and I forgive you, but you’re going to have to put up with me whining about my sunburn the whole drive home!”

“That’s fair,” Crow conceded, and then planted a quick kiss on Luke’s forehead. That was immediately followed by a quick smack on the red part of his shoulder, earning a yelp. “And THAT was for calling me a bird furry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How much do you want to bet that Crow’s original plan was to draw the ‘okay’ hand on Luke’s back?
> 
> Anyways! Comments and kudos are loved!!


	3. Commitment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: When Luke goes to turn in an assignment that Crow left out, he looks at his doodles and notes he had made when bored, and is met with the sweetest surprise he could imagine.
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Teens

“Oh, Luke!”

Luke happened to be running far behind the rest of the class, as he left for lunch period (sometimes, he struggled to put things in his bag), and was the last one out. He was already on his way out the door when the teacher called for him from her desk, but he wasn’t the type to turn down a teacher-given instruction simply because it was the period before lunch. (A gentleman is always as helpful as he can be!) So, he turned around, and came to the front of the teacher’s desk, with his usual, peppy smile. “Yes, ma’am?”

“It seems Crow left his assignment on his desk. Would you be a dear and turn it in for him?” The teacher smiled apologetically. “I’m terribly sorry to-“

“Nonsense, ma’am! I’ll get it!” Luke nodded, still grinning. He was always looking out for Crow (not to say Crow didn’t do the same for him, of course), so turning in a piece of paper he had forgotten wasn’t exactly unlike Luke to do.

He even found himself a bit glad that he had an excuse to get Crow’s assignment. Crow wasn’t exactly the most focused student in the world, so, on his assignments and notes alike, he wrote and doodled in the margins. It was interesting to see what went on in his boyfriend’s mind, when he was letting his mind wander.

Luke walked to the back of the class, and took Crow’s paper in his hands. He glanced over it, trying not to look at the answers; at least Crow had gotten all the questions done this time. (And hadn’t put “eat the rich” as an answer for an essay question.) After checking to make sure Crow didn’t need to take the assignment back as homework, Luke looked down the margins of the paper, where dozens of little doodles and notes were.

Crow wasn’t exactly an artist. He couldn’t draw humans, buildings, objects, dogs, cats… Or much of anything else. But there was one thing that he was good at sketching; birds. It was ironic, given his name, but perhaps it was because he was named after a bird that Crow liked to study them so much. As per the usual, there were little birds, of all different varieties, doodled across the page. In between birds, there were song lyrics. Whatever happened to be in his head is usually what was written down, and, it seemed, today, Crow had his mind on edgy Three Days Grace songs.

Just as Luke was about done looking through it, he spotted something familiar in the corner of the page; his name. His name always stuck out to him on paper, which was lucky, because the words were small, nestled in between doodles of two birds, as if hiding in their feathers. Luke had to bring the paper a little closer to his face to see it, and he realized, it wasn’t his name, after all. Well… Kind of.

Written so tiny, not meant to be noticed, were the words, ‘Crow Triton.’

Luke felt his heart swell up with something so wonderfully sweet and warm, and he felt his face go mushy and soft. He must have looked like a cartoon character, with a bright-pink face and a goofy grin. Little hearts may have been floating around his head, for all he knew. Not like how he looked was on his mind at that moment, anyways. No, at that moment, all Luke was thinking about was Crow, writing his first name with Luke’s last name in the middle of class, small enough so only those who looked close would see; thinking about him. Thinking about being together… Thinking about being married.

Luke quickly glanced up at the teacher, to make sure she wasn’t looking at him, before tearing the corner off of the page; both birds, and the words that had made him so very joyful. He then carefully, carefully put it in his pocket, to put in a safe place when he got home. Somewhere special, to remind himself that Crow, at least for a little while, wanted to commit himself entirely to him.

The urge to see and be close to his boyfriend hit him just a second later, and, suddenly, Luke couldn’t wait to see Crow at lunch. He jogged up to the teacher’s desk, and put the paper on it. “There! Bye-bye!” He bolted out the door before she could even thank him; not like he would have heard her. Because the only thing he could hear as he rushed to the lunchroom were those two words.

Crow Triton… Crow Triton… Crow Triton…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Urgh, this is really sappy but I really quite enjoyed writing it! I guess I just like sappy things.
> 
> Please comment, and leave kudos!


	4. Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: At the school dance, Luke just wants Crow to let loose and have fun. Unfortunately for him, Crow just seems to want to talk about the government and society.
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Children

School dances, in younger years, are less romantically-charged and more so about food, and having fun with your friends while listening to the same, popular songs. As an after-school activity, not everyone was there, but many students had gathered in the gym to meet up with their friends, snack on pizza and have fun, while teachers watched over them to make sure nobody held hands or did anything else scandalous. Everyone was up and about in the large, indoor gym, talking or dancing or eating.

But, of course, with every dance, there came at least one edgy, ‘too cool’ student, sitting on the bleachers and doing nothing but staring at the other students. With this particular group of children, that loner was, of course, Crow.

Even as Luke talked with Arianna and Finch, he kept glancing at Crow, wondering if and when he would join in the dance. He, himself, hadn’t danced yet; opting for hanging around the food table instead, and chatting with whoever came by. But Crow wasn’t dancing, eating, or talking. Just sitting there, daydreaming. It seemed none of the Black Ravens could come to the dance, so he was all by his lonesome, as well. Luke wanted to try and talk to him, but he found himself overthinking what he would even say. He did that a lot with Crow; overthinking and being nervous. He was sure it was because of his standoffish demeanor.

He finally gathered the courage when a song with an associated dance came with it; ‘Cupid Shuffle’. Luke popped the last bite of the cookie he was munching on into his mouth, before finally walking over to Crow; standing in front of him, as the other boy sat on the bleachers.

Luke tried to smile to hide his nerves, and tilted his head. “Hey! Um… Why aren’t you dancing?”

“I don’t dance,” Crow responded simply, arching his eyebrows. (Well, Luke could only see one, with his hair covering the other one, but he assumed.)

“Yeah, but… Everybody likes the Cupid Shuffle!” Luke protested, before turning a bit and pointing to the crowd of students doing the dance. “You don’t even have to come up with a dance, you just do what the song says!”

Crow’s expression darkened. “Ah. So we just do as the song says, blindly, without thinking for ourselves. It’s just like how we’re expected to blindly listen to the government, and whatever they tell us, when we are only puppets to-”

“Please don’t make me have a crisis again,” Luke interrupted. “Come on, you’ve got to lighten up a little!”

“Oy, rich boy, it’s easy for you to say,” Crow shot back, and irritation crossing his face. “You’ve gotten tons of dance lessons, I bet, yeah? You can afford to do stupid stuff like that, while the poor-”

Luke interrupted him yet again, by, in a moment of courage, taking his hands into his, and pulling him up to stand. He knew he could let go of Crow’s hands after he was up, but he, somehow, didn’t want to. Crow didn’t pull away, either. Luke felt his face go a bit warm. Probably because it was hot in the gym.

“All the money and society stuff you talk about is important,” Luke admitted. “But it’s also important to relax sometimes, you know? Having fun is just as important as working! Otherwise, life becomes awfully boring.” Before Crow could object, Luke was already leading him onto the dancefloor, and continued talking. “And you don’t need dance lessons to dance to this song! Just do as it says!”

Luke was almost certain that Crow would pull another ‘we live a society’ ramble, even when he was in the mass of people happily dancing along to the upbeat song. But, when Luke let go of his hands, and backed away to give him space, all Crow did was give him a look, before hesitantly going along with what all the other students were doing.

Despite the temptation to go back to eating, Luke also decided to join in (he wasn’t some sort of hypocrite, after all); following the dance that he had done so many times before. It only took a few moments to get lost in the familiar song, so, when he finally remembered to look at Crow, he was surprised to find his demeanor had completely changed. He wasn’t slouching, or frowning; his face was lit up in the kind of childish joy that Luke hadn’t seen on him before, as he went along with the song.

He was smiling. Not smirking… Smiling.

Luke felt a wave of heat go over him, and he assumed that it was because he was tired from dancing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love writing Crow as the “Well, if we killed all billionaires, we wouldn’t have that problem,” type.
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated, as per usual!


	5. Energy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Luke is the one who refuses to get up and get ready for an event that he agreed to go to. This leaves Crow to the task of trying to get him up in time.
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Adults

Crow and Luke’s personalities starkly contrasted their morning attitudes. Crow slept only a few hours, if at all, with little naps throughout the day to catch up on sleep. Because of that, he was usually up relatively easily. After all, it’s not hard to get up in the morning when you’ve been awake for hours before. Luke, on the other hand, actually tried to get all of his sleep in at night, with his tendency to ‘go, go, go’ not leaving room for naps during the day. But this lead to the issue of getting up, after 8 hours of cozy sleep, which was difficult; even worse if he slept too little. Even worse than that was trying to drag Luke out of bed when he slept too little, earlier than usual, for some sort of event.

Knowing this, Crow had decided to let Luke sleep in as much as possible that morning; getting fully dressed and eating breakfast before even attempting to get him to get out of bed. Procrastination could only go on for so long, however, and eventually, Crow sat down on his own side of the bed, to try and gently shake Luke awake.

“Hey, Blueberry… It’s time to get up…”

Luke, as expected, curled up tighter into a ball, and put his pillow over his head, with a whiny, “Noooo…”

“Yeeesss,” Crow responded, with a small, playful eyeroll. “Luke, come on, I let you sleep in! And it’s your sister who wanted us to meet her girlfriend.”

Luke grumbled a bit; something about, “Flora is such an early bird,” and, “This is homophobia, because I’m gay and it’s inconveniencing me.”

Crow responded by forcing Luke’s pillow out of his hands, to try and get him to deal with the light, but Luke just went straight to burrowing under the covers. Crow yanked the covers off of Luke’s side of the bed, and his husband just put his hands over his eyes. That earned a frustrated huff from Crow. “Luke, come on! You’re the one who agreed to meeting Flora. What happened to, ‘A gentleman is always kind to someone important to their friends’?”

“The gentleman is tired,” Luke grumbled in response.

“Well, the gentleman better get up or the gentleman’s husband is going to pour hot tea on his face!” Crow shot back. (That was a threat he made often in situations like these, but both of them knew well at this point that it was an empty threat.)

Luke didn’t even reply, except for sighing and curling up tighter to get warm.

Crow made a frustrated noise. He knew if they were late, Luke would beat himself up for it later, and he didn’t like to see Luke disappointed in himself. He thought for a while about different things he could do to get Luke up. Cold water wouldn’t leave burns like tea would, but it would make a mess. Being loud would just make the neighbors complain, and God knew Luke could sleep through anything. Bribing with food typically worked, but Luke often just ended up complaining until Crow brought him breakfast in bed. Tea or coffee would take too long to settle in…

Crow finally got an idea that might work, and he grinned to himself, before leaning down so he could pull Luke’s hands away from his face. Before Luke could complain, Crow pressed a quick kiss to his cheek (he couldn’t quite reach his lips, because Luke was facing away from him). This actually made Luke’s eyes open, though it was hesitant and slow, and he turned over, so Crow could reach his lips. Crow sat back up though, and tilted his head. “If you want more, I’ll give you more after you’re up and ready.”

“Nooooo!”

“Yeeeesss.”

After a few seconds to be grumpy about the situation, Luke finally sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed before standing. He gave a look of annoyance to Crow over his shoulder, but his cheeks being tinted pink ruined it. “You better plan on keeping that promise, because if you aren’t, I’m going back to bed with my morning clothes on.”

Crow chuckled, before getting up and going to the door. While still in the doorway, he turned around, and blew Luke a kiss. “I’ll be waiting in the car!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like to think of Crow as the one who gets up early, and Luke as the one who has bedhead and keeps yawning in the morning. It’s funny to think about how different people can act in the morning!
> 
> Comments and kudos are loved!


	6. Folklore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Crow, as poor boy lost in a corrupt system, obviously hated the royal family. But he found himself continuously coming back to the castle, after hearing the possibility of a prince his age...
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Children

Crow never really had anything to do. Many people would think that someone who lived so close to the Triton’s castle would not only have to be rich, but constantly entertained. Many people had asked if he had even seen a member of the royal family before; as if someone so rich and uppity would ever go into the dirt of the outside. But, no. The Tritons mostly kept to themselves (why would they leave their cushy little castle when it had everything they needed?), and Crow was anything but rich. He lived by himself most of the time, as his mother worked long hours just to make sure neither of them starved. His father was… Not in the equation. And he couldn’t even stay at his measly, rickety old house, most of the time, as his mother forbade it. (They had been robbed too many times for his mother to leave him home alone with a sound mind.) Because of that, he spent what little time he didn’t use by trying to scrounge up money mostly loitering around, or walking, lost in thought.

So why did he keep coming back here? To the Triton’s palace? He couldn’t even go inside. He just sat at the castle gates, just out of sight of the guards…

He certainly wasn’t the King’s and Queen’s biggest fan; and why should he be, if they let him and his friends so far down? Let children; children like him; fall victim to starvation, illnesses, and class inequality? No, he couldn’t care less about the King and Queen. But, from what little he understood about the royal family, he knew the two of them had a son. They kept said son sheltered; heck, Crow didn’t even know the kid’s name. But Badger insisted he caught a glimpse of him once, through the castle gates, and said he was their age.

Was that why? Why Crow kept coming back here? To try and see the prince? Then what? Did some sort of stupid part of him think that the prince of England would so much as spare him, some poor kid, a second glance? Did an even stupider part hope they could talk? Maybe that the prince would be touched, and have his parents do something about how the poor were treated?

Stupid. It was stupid. There was no reason to be here.

Crow had just convinced himself of that, and turned to leave, when he saw something move in the royal yard. He stopped, and continued to look through the gapes in the gate. Just in case.

And, somehow, someway, his intuition was right. Out from behind the castle, a boy his age, in clothing so nice it looked unreal, walked into the front yard of the Triton’s castle. Before Crow could convince himself it was someone else (a servant, a guard’s son), he took notice of the small, but definitely real, crown atop the other boy’s head. This was certainly the prince. He even matched Badger’s description; brown hair, bright blue eyes, and perpetually blushing cheeks. He was cute, too. (Crow, at that age, didn’t question such thoughts about other male’s attractiveness. He assumed all boys looked at other boys the same way he did.)

Once Crow was sure that this was the prince of England in front of him (just a few feet in front of him!), he somehow felt some sort of rush. He hated the royal family, but, somehow, this boy seemed… Kinder than the king and queen. Softer. This was confirmed when the prince plopped onto the dirty ground, and made a noise that sounded like some sort of animal noise that Crow couldn’t place. He only realized it was a rat noise when he saw a rat run up to the prince. He half-expected him to shoo it away, but the prince welcomed the small creature; picking it up in his hands, and bringing it closer to his face. In a sweet voice, the prince greeted the rat. “Hi, Toppy!”

The rat seemed to almost understand what the prince was saying, making a noise in response.

The prince giggled, and dug into his pocket, and pulled out a bit of cheese. “Look what I saved for you from dinner!” He held the cheese out, and the rat; Toppy was apparently the name he was given; began to chow down, gratefully.

Rats were filthy. Rats carried disease. Rats bit. Rats were what all rich, snobby people were afraid of.

The poor were rats.

But here the prince was, treating this small, filthy animal with kindness. Feeding it, talking to it.

Crow had almost forgotten where he was when the prince’s gaze shifted from Toppy, to Crow. It was then that Crow remembered that he was an outsider looking in; staring at the prince with his mouth opened stupidly, from outside the royal gate. The look didn’t hold disgust, or pity, or anything, really. Just a blank sort of curiosity. But even so, Crow felt his face go hot (humiliation, and perhaps something else; the prince’s eyes were nice, after all), and he naturally turned heel and booked it out of there, faster than the prince could say, “Wait!”

But, just before the castle was out of earshot, Crow heard a familiar voice; one of the guards who protected the royal gate.

“Prince Luke, what are you doing out here?”

Prince Luke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While this isn’t folklore, the official post of this prompt list mentioned fairytales, which is mainly where the inspiration of this comes from! I have to say, I’m a sucker for royalty AUs, so this was a natural choice! This is probably my favorite prompt so far, and I hope you love it, too! If you did, please leave kudos and comment!


	7. Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Because he grew up poor, Crow never was able to get good at video games. Luke grew up surrounded by video games... And guess who’s the competitive one between the two?
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Teens

“Why can’t we watch the cartoon?! I don’t lose at the cartoon!”

“Come on now, Crow...”

The issue with Crow and video games was this: he never had any. The only time he was able to play any sort of electronic game was when he went over to Luke’s house, and, even then, he only really played the occasional Mario Kart. But, him having little to no practice with video games lead him to not being so good at them; especially when he was trying a new game he hadn’t played before. And that, along with his competitive spirit, didn’t mix very well.

Crow, at this moment, was borrowing Flora’s 3DS and Pokemon game, so that he could battle Luke. He had grown up watching the cartoon whenever he could get his trashy old television to work, and that helped him get the absolute basics. But Luke has grown up with whatever the latest system was, buying each new game as it came out, and the anime and the games were very, very different. This lead to a crushing defeat every single battle they had; usually with Luke’s leading Pokemon sweeping through Crow’s team. And, after 4 losses in a row, Crow looked ready to chuck the gaming system out the window.

Luke tilted his head a bit, and moved on the floor, so that, instead of their 3DSes facing away from each other, Luke could easily see Crow’s screen. “Hey, if we battle again, I could try and help you!”

Crow gave Luke an irritated look. “I don’t need help!”

Luke raised an eyebrow. “Do you, though?” He glanced down at Crow’s screen, which still had the ‘LOSS’ screen up, which Crow quickly exited out of, followed by a, “Fine.”

Once again, the battle music began to play in unison for them, and Luke sent out his feathery reptilian Pokemon, nicknamed ‘Plumes’. (Luke nicknamed all of his Pokemon; Plumes was named after the Plume fossil it was revived from.) Crow sent out Flora’s Primarina, which she had nicknamed ‘Water Lillie’.

“So,” Luke began, looking at Crow’s Pokemon’s moveset. “My Pokemon is an Archeops! And Archeops have the ability Defeatist, where, if it gets below half health, its stats are cut in half!”

“Yeah, but Primarina is slower than it,” Crow grumbled.

“Not if it uses a move that’s guaranteed to go first! And, if it’s super effective, maybe it’ll get Plumes into Defeatist! Plus, if it uses... Say, Aqua Jet... It’ll get same-type attack bonus.”

Crow’s eyes lit up with this advice, and he immediate went to pick Aqua Jet, with an enthusiastic grin. As Luke had predicted, this got Plumes into Defeatist, and made it easy to KO.

The rest of the battle went similarly; whenever Crow was struggling, Luke would look at his screen and give him a tip or two, which would immediately result in his Pokemon getting knocked out. Finally, after his last Pokemon was down, Luke saw the ‘LOSS’ screen pop up on his 3DS. But somehow, it felt sweeter than the victory screen, especially hearing Crow’s triumphant laugh.

“I DID it! FINALLY! I BEAT you!!” he yelled, throwing his hands in the air and falling over onto his back.

Luke chose not to bring up the fact that he had only been defeated because he had given Crow tips throughout the battle. Instead, he smiled at his boyfriend being so proud of himself. “Yes, you beat me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if this seems rushed...! That would be because it is. Today was absolutely hectic for me; my family celebrated Easter today, among other things... I only had time to write near the end of the day!! But I got it out in time and that’s what matters! Kudos and comments are appreciated.


	8. Holiday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Crow hates Valentine’s day... Extremely openly. But Luke can’t help himself sometimes...
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Teens

Crow, as the infamous ‘screw society’ kid of Misthallery, wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of Valentine’s day. He was the type of teen who got annoyed at it, saying it was made by Hallmark to sell cards, or calling it ‘Singles Awareness day’. (Even when he, himself, wasn’t even single.) He hated it so openly that Luke had, on more than one occasion, said, “Eat a conversation heart and maybe you’ll calm down.”

Luke had never really minded the Hallmark beginnings of Valentine’s day, and rather enjoyed it, though he never forced Crow to participate in any festivities. He didn’t particularly mind Crow’s grumpiness with the holiday, as he grew up with Emmy, who was basically the same exact way. He simply thought it was nice to have a day dedicated to love; not just romantic, but platonic and familial.

Because of all this, Luke never visited Misthallery during Valentine’s. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t send something nice.

Crow noticed a package on his doorstep on the way back from school, before his mother came home from work, with Luke’s telltale loopy writing in permanent marker. ‘For Crow’. As much as Crow hated Valentine’s, he wasn’t about to get mad over Luke sending him a gift, knowing Crow wouldn’t do anything in return. (Even if it was to celebrate a Capitalist holiday.) He picked it up and carried it inside, before setting it on the rickety table in the kitchen. He then got a pair of scissors to open the package, careful not to hurt whatever was inside.

First thing he noticed was a note, on plain white paper. He unfolded it, raising an eyebrow to himself.

‘Hi, Crow! It’s Luke. I know that you don’t like Valentine’s because of eating the rich, so I decided not to wrap this or anything. But I wanted to get you something or other! I couldn’t resist, sorry. Besides, you complain about never having any desserts at your house because you can only afford normal food, so I decided to make you something sweet! It’s the same kind as the one you had when I had leftovers from Flora’s birthday! I hope you like it. I made it from scratch. I love you!’

Crow’s eyes lit up, and he licked his lips, remembering the time he came over a few days after Flora’s birthday celebration. She had let Luke have some of the leftover cake... Cheesecake, wasn’t it? It was delicious, better than anything he normally had...

After moving the note, his suspicions were confirmed; in a plastic case was a scrumptious-looking cheesecake. Even better-looking then the one he had with Luke... Suddenly, he felt the hunger than he typically ignored coming back, and he suddenly felt like he could gobble the whole thing down.

Crow swallowed painfully, and put the note back into the box, so it was covering the cake. He wouldn’t eat it all at once. He would savor it; maybe share it with his mother, and the rest of the Black Ravens. But he knew he wouldn’t have any self-control if he opened it now...

He left the box on the kitchen table, and wandered into his mother’s room, picking up her Blackberry phone. (She often left it at home, in fear of it getting stolen from her at work.) Crow scrolled through the contacts until he found Luke’s phone number, then typed a quick message.

‘Got the package; happy Valentine’s day Luke. - Crow’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am, writing a Valentine’s Day oneshot in April! Comments and kudos appreciated.


	9. If

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Crow had it deep in his mind that his grades would directly determine whether or not he remained poor for the rest of his life. So, as you can imagine, finals season can be hell for him.
> 
> Warning(s): Anxiety involving school/finals/the future
> 
> Age: Teens

Crow had grown up with a heavy pressure to do well in school since he was a child. It was unintentional, of course; but his mother always stressed about how she believed she was poor because she had not done well in school. His father (before he had left them, that is) was much more overt about it. He always said, “C is crappy, B is bad, and A is acceptable!” Clearly, that was a lot to put on a young, young child, who had only been in primary school at the time. And that stress had carried into his teenage years.

Now in year 12, Crow found himself staying up later and later the night before exams. Not only to study, but because he knew he would be too stressed to sleep, even if he tried. He was at Luke’s house, so the two of them could study together, but Luke had gone to sleep a long time ago, snuggled up in his bed. Crow, on the other hand, was at Luke’s desk, with the lamp turned on, so he could stare at his study sheet. He kept running his hand through his hair (a telltale nervous habit), because, for some reason, the words wouldn’t sink into his brain.

If he failed this exam, he’d fail the grade. If he failed the grade, he would never get a job. If he never got a job, he would end up poor for life, just like his mother. Poor, struggling, divorced, and miserable.

Crow knew this. So why wouldn’t the words sink in?!

He felt tears welling up in his eyes now, and his breathing quickening. He was going to be a failure. He was going to disappoint the Black Ravens, his mother, Luke, everyone who cared about him. He couldn’t even see the words anymore, they were too blurred, but he had to try, he had to! If he failed-

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft, warm kiss on the cheek. Crow looked to the side, and saw a very sleepy, but very sympathetic Luke standing next to him, with his hand on his shoulder.

“You should get some sleep,” Luke whispered.

“But...” Crow began to protest, his eyes darting back to his notes. “But if-“

“No ifs,” Luke interrupted, and then brought his hand to Crow’s cheek to turn his head, and capture his lips in a gentle, sleepy kiss. After he pulled away, he smiled. “Just get some sleep. You won’t be able to do your best for the exams when you’re tired.”

Crow sighed, silently admitting defeat. He turned off the lamp and stood up from the desk, then let Luke lead him back to his bed. Once they were all snug under the blankets, Luke rested his head on Crow’s chest, so that Crow could rest his chin on his head, like he knew he liked to do.

“No ifs,” Luke repeated, his voice a gentle sort of loving. “Just sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have finals two days from now, but me?! Using Crow as a self-insert for my problems?! NO! What would give you that idea?!
> 
> Okay, in all seriousness; please comment and leave kudos!


	10. Just In Case

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Luke couldn’t often afford to flaunt his relationship status to many people. This is, of course, a problem, when someone appears to want to date him, unknowing that he is in a relationship already; especially when he’s convinced said someone has a completely platonic evening in mind.
> 
> Warning(s): Arguing, jealousy, very subtle themes of Luke being closeted/Clark being unaccepting
> 
> Age: Adults

As Luke slid a jacket on over his shirt, Crow leaned against the wall next to the doorway. His arms were crossed, and his eyebrows furrowed, clearly unhappy with the events unfolding before him. The events that he really had no place to try and prevent. But also the events that he could, in fact, complain about.

Which he did. Once again asking, with a clear bitter tone, “You’re really going, huh?”

Luke properly got the jacket settled, and then smiled sincerely. “Why, of course. A gentleman is to heed a lady’s request, after all.”

Crow rolled his eyes, then kept them away from Luke, burning a hole into the wall. Again with the ‘a gentleman always’ thing... He was starting to suspect Luke (as well as the professor) just made up what a gentleman ‘always did’, to get their way.

He snapped his gaze back to Luke, a clear look of frustration on his face. “But this isn’t any lady. It’s Arianna.”

Luke chuckled, unaffected by Crow’s annoyance. If anything, at this point, he found his boyfriend’s jealousy rather charming. It was nice to feel wanted. “Yes, Arianna. My childhood friend. What’s so ridiculous about a childhood friend inviting another over for cake?”

“It’s different when that childhood friend had a crush on you!”

“She never said she had a crush on me, Lovebird.”

“She KISSED YOU!” Crow broke his calm stance to bury his face in his hands and groan. Luke was about as oblivious as a rock when it came to flirting and romance; he knew that better than anyone when he had been trying to subtly flirt with him before asking him out.

“On the cheek,” Luke replied, tapping his cheek with his index finger. “That could have been friendly. Besides, even if she had a crush on me-“ Before Crow could say anything, he quickly added, “Which she didn’t; that doesn’t mean that she is interested in me now.”

“She asked you to come alone!”

“There are lots of reasons Arianna could have asked me to come alone.”

“Yeah, including wanting to steal y-!“ Crow bit his tongue, and put his hand over his mouth. He had a feeling that it was too late to shut himself up, though.

Luke sighed, his eyes saddening, and finally moving to get closer to his partner, placing both hands on his shoulder. “Crow...”

Crow kept his hand on his mouth, and pointedly looked away.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Luke continued, putting a hand to Crow’s cheek lovingly.

Crow still wouldn’t meet Luke’s eyes, glaring at the wall. After a short moment, his eyes softened, and his voice came out quiet, as he let his hand drop to his side. “Ari... Doesn’t know about us, does she?”

Luke’s face got struck with a bit of surprise, then a gentle sort of apologetic. “Love Dove, she’s close to my father, and-“

“Yeah, yeah. I get it.” And Crow did seem to get it. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be unhappy about it.

There was a moment of silence. Luke dropped his hands from Crow’s shoulders, and instead fidgeted with his jacket.

After a long moment, Crow looked back at Luke for the first time in a while. “I’m sorry. I know it’s dumb. But... Nobody really knows about us, and I just... I just get worried that...” His gaze fell to the floor heavily, like it had been work to look at Luke. “That people will want to take you for themselves.”

Luke made a soft noise, but didn’t know how to verbally respond in an appropriate way.

After a moment of thinking, Luke muttered, “Oh.” He reached to the coat hanger, and took Crow’s scarf; the one that he was known for, the one that was undeniably his; and then wrapped it around his neck. Anyone from Misthallery would recognize it as Crow’s scarf. “It’s cold outside, you know?” he said, and though the words sounded like bad smalltalk, the tone behind it was much more than that.

Crow looked up at Luke, and his face flushed red, just slightly. His eyebrows arched upwards in surprise. “Ah...”

His eyes slowly shifted from surprise to thankfulness, and he gently pulled Luke closer by his waist, before kissing his forehead. “Just in case, right?” he muttered.

“Mmhmm.”

Just in case of the cold. But also just in case anyone needed a silent hint that Luke’s heart belonged to another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> J for ‘just in case’? More like J for jealousy, am I right?
> 
> Yeah, okay, anyways; comments and kudos appreciated! (I don’t often respond to comments because I have social anxiety and can’t take compliments but I promise I read every single one!)


	11. Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: The first conversation Luke and Crow have after confessing their feelings for each other happens to be over the phone. That meant no physical contact; but words can be just as sweet.
> 
> Warning(s): Very light mention of self-esteem issues
> 
> Age: Teens

Anyone who hadn’t known what happened would have probably thought Crow was going through a depression spell that day. He was daydreaming a lot, not paying attention to where he was walking, and went home earlier than usual. Granted, given that, before, he only went home when absolutely necessary, that wasn’t saying much, but the point still stood. Anyone who hadn’t known what happened would have also noticed that Crow had snatched his mother’s Blackberry phone, and was carrying it around. They may have found it suspicious, because of Crow’s general suspicious and mischievous aura.

But the explanation was much simpler than that, and honestly much nicer. It was simply that it was just the other day that he and Luke had become boyfriends. Granted, for a few months beforehand, they had been in that weird space of ‘not romantically involved, but not not romantically involved,’ but both of them were both overjoyed, nonetheless. (Overjoyed has been an understatement. He didn’t know about Luke, but immediately after that meeting, Crow had gone home to scream into his pillow.)

However, that had been Luke’s last day on his visit to Misthallery, which had been very bad timing. In Crow’s experience, whenever people their age got together, they spent the first few weeks hardly leaving each other’s side, in a sort of honeymoon period. He used to make fun of it, but when Luke had said he had to leave early the next morning, Crow wanted to ask him to take him, too. It would have been torture to let Luke go now that he knew his feelings weren’t onesided, had Luke not offered to exchange phone numbers with him.

Crow’s immediate first reaction was, “But I don’t have a phone,” but then he recalled his mother’s phone that she often left unattended. Crow wrote Luke’s number on his arm (he didn’t have any paper on hand), but Luke had been worried about his father asking why he suddenly had a boy’s phone number, so Crow helped him memorize it.

“You sure you know it?” Crow had asked, before Luke had gone back to his house that night.

“I’m sure,” he had responded, with an almost amused expression at how blushy and nervous Crow was acting. He then recited it.

“But-“

“Crow, don’t worry! Or do you want me to get it tattooed on me, and have Hershel promptly murder me?”

Crow managed a laugh at that. “Please don’t!”

After a promise that Luke would call him at 8 the next day, Crow watched Luke leave, standing on his toes to see him for as long as he could before he disappeared.

Now, even though Crow knew that the time they had agreed upon was 8, he couldn’t help but carry his mother’s phone around all day the next day. He wasn’t sure why; some sort of anxiety about Luke calling early, or it getting stolen? Then, he went home early, and ran into his room, flopping onto his bed, even though he knew that it was old. He sat up against the headboard, and stared at the phone in his hands, waiting for it to say he was receiving a call.

Crow officially lost his patience at 5 minutes past 8, and looked at the now-slightly faded numbers on his arm as he typed them into his phone. After pressing the call button, he held it up to his ear, resting his chin on the top of his knees. He hoped Luke hadn’t forgotten.

Obviously, he hadn’t, because Luke picked up before the first ring had ended. “Crow!”

Luke’s happy, almost relieved voice washed any tension that Crow had left over. “Luke,” he responded, without thinking about what would come after it. All this time, thinking about Luke, and he hadn’t even thought about what he would say...

He heard a giggle from Luke’s end. “What?” Crow asked, smiling a bit.

“I dunno! I’m just happy!” Luke’s voice got just slightly quieter, but Crow picked up on it. “I just thought about you a lot, you know? What happened yesterday? An’... Now I’m hearing your voice...” He paused, before adding, “It sounds nice over the phone.”

“I’m just glad we can talk, I guess.”

“We talk loads!”

“Yeah, but it’s usually about your rat and stuff.”

They both chuckled at that, and then both went silent. Crow wasn’t sure what Luke was doing, but he went quiet to hear his breathing on the other end. It was comforting. It reminded him of when he was little, and would sleep in his mother’s bed when he was scared, and would listen to her breathing.

It was probably weird that he was listening to Luke’s breathing, wasn’t it? “I dunno how I managed to trick you into liking me. I’m weird.”

“You’re not weird!” Luke protested immediately. “You’re cool!”

Crow snorted in response. “I’m a dork who can’t socialize well and comes off as cool.”

“Yeah, and the fact that you’re okay with that makes you cool! Cool people don’t care what other people think. I care what everyone thinks of me, all the time.”

“Why are we talking about me?” Crow didn’t like talking about himself. He didn’t exactly hate himself, per say. But he certainly didn’t like himself. “I thought we were talking about your rat.”

“No, we were talking about how we talk about Toppy.” Luke decided to change the subject at that moment, back to Crow. “Are you ever called anything besides Crow?”

“When people are trying to intimidate me, they call me Birdie,” Crow replied, going along with it. “My ma called me that, and now nobody around here will let it go.”

“Birdie. I like that...” Luke giggled, his voice light. “It’s harder for me to talk to birds than animals, but there’s a new couple of robins nearby... A couple of lovebirds. It’s cute!” He paused, before adding, “Oh! I could call you that!”

Crow furrowed his eyebrows. “Call me what?”

“You know; Lovebird?”

Crow felt a blush cross his face, almost as hot as when he and Luke had been talking the other day. He made an embarrassed noise without any words attached.

“Hehe!! I made you blush, didn’t I?”

“You can’t call me that name! It’s too cute!!”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Hush it, rich boy.”

“Awww, I made you blush! I’m using that forever!”

Crow groaned, covering his face with his free hand. “Luke...!”

When he didn’t respond, Crow pressed his ear firmer to the phone, and heard some talking in the background. After a moment, Luke spoke. “Ugh, I’m sorry... It’s only been a few minutes, but the professor wants me to eat-“

“You haven’t eaten?!”

“I... I got distracted! There was a good show on, and then I thought about calling you and I got nervous...”

“Eat now or I’m divorcing you.”

Luke laughed, and said in the most loving voice, “We’re not married, Lovebird.”

Crow made a flustered noise at the nickname.

“Hehe. Well... I’ve gotta go, then. I’ll see if I can talk to you tomorrow... Mwah!”

Crow furrowed his eyebrows. Luke hadn’t exactly made the noise, more so than said the word. “Huh?”

“... Oh, uh... You know...” Luke’s voice was suddenly unsure and nervous. “Like... Like a kiss?”

Crow naturally bit back a smile, before remembering he was alone. He and Luke hadn’t shared a kiss yesterday; no matter how tempted he was, he was too stupid and nervous. But this was like a kiss on the cheek. Nothing to worry about, and it was quite cute.

Still, Crow found his face flushing when he thought about reciprocating. Luke just made him so nervous, all the time. Butterflies in his stomach, all that stuff he heard in bad romance songs. Even so, he muttered, “Okay. Mwah.”

Luke giggled, and it was like a sweet-sounding bell. And this time, he didn’t stop when he talked. “You’re so cute! Alright... I’ve really gotta go... Bye bye!”

“Later.”

Luke was still giggling after they said goodbye, and it continued until the line went flat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry I couldn’t get this out yesterday! I had finals yesterday... And you know how it is. So, I’m gonna try to upload two chapters today! I also went ahead and made this chapter longer and really fluffy, to make up for it. This is one of my favorites... New relationships are always so sweet!
> 
> Comments and kudos are loved!


	12. Looks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Hershel finds himself stumped by the puzzle of the sudden change in Luke and Crow’s relationship.
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Teens

Hershel liked to look at every unsolved question in his life like a puzzle. With so many villains he had correctly identified, and so many mysteries solved, he would like to think that he was quite the talented puzzle-solver... But some were more difficult for him than others.

One of those puzzles was the sudden shift in Crow and Luke’s relationship.

It happened all at once, when Luke returned from a visit to Misthallery with his parents. Suddenly, when alone, Luke called Crow quite a lot more than before he visited. On top of that, he also talked about him quite a lot more. The first incorrect solution Hershel came to was that perhaps they became better friends during the visit.

He found that answer to be incorrect when he noticed how Luke was acting; both when alone, and with Crow on the phone. He was suddenly more daydreamy, and often smiled into space, as if thinking of something, and then immediately got nervous when asked what he was thinking about. And, unlike his phone calls with anyone else; his parents, Flora, Emmy, anyone; he always talked to Crow in his room, with the door closed, so Hershel wouldn’t hear. Hershel’s second incorrect answer was a worrying one; perhaps they were scheming something... But he couldn’t bring himself to quite believe that. Even if Crow was mischievous, he wasn’t a bad person, and Luke was the most kind and clever boy he knew.

After he decided that was incorrect, he noticed that Luke had actually begun to invite Crow over to his home, and/or Hershel’s office when he was working. That was something entirely knew. The two of them only used to see each other during Luke’s visits to Misthallery... Now, all of a sudden, Crow was coming over, as well? On top of that, their voices when talking together were always hushed... Like sharing some great secret for only them to know.

Hershel felt like he had run out of guesses. He had no answers. He had decided to save this puzzle for later, or perhaps skip it altogether, when Emmy decided to visit one evening, when Crow was also over.

It was when Crow and Luke were whispering on the couch (Luke was taking a break from organizing his books), and he and Emmy were chatting at his office, that Hershel decided to bring up this unsolved question to Emmy. This was met, surprisingly, with a chuckle.

“Oh, Professor,” she said, a lilt of teasing in her voice, “You really haven’t figured it out yet?”

“Emmy, please, there is no need to be rude.”

“Well... I mean... Here.” She took Hershel’s hand, and lead him to peek around the corner, to where they could see Crow and Luke talking. They didn’t seem to notice them.

“Just...” Emmy shook her head, smiling. She seemed amused by Hershel’s inability to understand, although she didn’t say it. “Just look at how they look at each other, and tell me you don’t see it.”

Hershel did as Emmy had suggested, and focused on Crow and Luke’s posture and expressions as they talked. And, suddenly, the answer seemed so simple.

They were sitting much closer together than Crow, or even Luke, liked to normally be to a friend. Both of their faces were tinted slightly pink, and they both seemed giggly... Even nervous. And, though he couldn’t quite see from this angle, he was certain that Crow and Luke were holding hands, from how their shoulders and arms were positioned.

Emmy giggled at Hershel’s face; that was his expression when he found a correct answer. “Do you see now?”

“Yes, Emmy,” Hershel said, his voice quiet so Luke and Crow would not overhear. “I believe I do. But...”

He smiled softly. “Let’s allow Luke to tell us in his own time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh! I’m so frustrated. I actually wrote this yesterday, and planned to upload it, but I forgot! I’ll upload two today. I’m sorry!
> 
> Anywho, I wanted to do something a bit different this time, so I decided to write something from Hershel’s point of view! I quite like how it turned out.
> 
> Comment and leave kudos, please!


	13. Muscles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: When Luke, in the middle of a nap, sleepily demanded Crow to carry him to their room, he didn’t actually mean it. But, apparently, he underestimated how much his husband wanted to go to bed.
> 
> Warning(s): Brief mentions of puberty and malnourishment
> 
> Age: Adults

Luke very rarely took naps around the house, due to his generally good sleep schedule. When he did nap, however, it was usually right before his usually bedtime, nonetheless, so it wasn’t like it mattered. But he didn’t tend to want to get up from wherever he had started his nap to his bedroom; which he immediately regretted in the morning, because he usually didn’t nap in the most comfortable of places.

Such was the case a lazy Saturday night, when Luke and Crow had decided to watch a movie that had been playing on the TV, which they hadn’t been able to see while it was in theaters. Due to how tired Luke was from a long day, and how late the movie ran, him ‘resting his eyes’ turned into a nap. He was curled up in an uncomfortable way on the couch, resting his head in Crow’s lap. Crow decided to let him nap until the movie was over, running his hands through Luke’s hair absentmindedly, but, once the movie was over, he gently poked his husband’s cheek. “Okay, we’ve gotta go to our room now.”

Luke, still half-asleep, grunted angrily.

“If you don’t move now,” Crow continued quietly, “You’ll be sore in the morning... And I’m not gonna let my lap be your pillow all night.”

“No, you’re my warm pillow now, I’ve decided it and it’s law,” Luke grumbled, bringing his hand to rest next to his head on Crow’s thigh.

“You know and I both know that I don’t care about the law.”

“Either you keep being my pillow, or you carry me to bed.”

Luke didn’t seem to be serious with that bit about being carried to bed. Crow didn’t look to be very strong, after all. While Luke was ever-so-slightly pudgy (mostly in the belly) from his tendency to indulge in food, Crow had grown up malnourished. While this didn’t affect his height (he was luckily able to eat enough between Luke’s constant inviting him over for dinner and his mother earning a bit more when he was going through puberty), it did affect his weight. His belly dipped in just slightly under the ribs, and he didn’t exactly look the strongest. His arms were basically sticks. So Luke seemed to mean it more as a joke than anything.

Nonetheless, Crow decided to take Luke up on his offer; wrapping one arm under Luke’s legs, and another to hold his back, he lifted him into his arms, and began to carry him to their room.

Luke’s immediate reaction was an extremely surprised squealing sound, followed by looking around, then followed by staring up at Crow with a confused, but bright pink expression. “Wh- huh? How are you so-?”

“Strong?” Crow finished, with a small, self-satisfied smile. “I had to help my ma a lot. She was always tired, so I basically did all the heavy lifting ‘round the house. So...” He shrugged, before he bumped the door opened with his shoulder. “I can lift things.”

Once he was on Luke’s side of the bed, he lowered him to the mattress and put him on his back. Once he stood up, he felt another swell of self-satisfaction when he saw how Luke was looking at him; stupidly red, and stupidly impressed.

“Now,” Crow chuckled, as he rolled into bed on his side. “Don’t expect me to do that on a regular basis. Next time, I’ll just let you have a sore back.” But both of them knew it was just another one of his empty threats, especially when he leaned over to kiss Luke on the forehead goodnight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew! I’m all caught up. Apologies for the mild delay! Now I’m back on schedule. Please leave comments and kudos!


	14. Nevermind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Luke never considered himself a secret-keeper. He always thought of himself honest and upfront... Until he realizes something about himself that may change that.
> 
> Warning(s): Internalized homophobia, questioning attraction, closeted character
> 
> Age: Children

Crow had a rainbow patch sewn onto his shirt sleeve.

The last time Luke had payed a visit to Misthallery, he and Crow had talked about sewing a patch onto his clothing to hide a recent rip in his favorite shirt. It had been Luke’s suggestion when Crow brought it up; saying with a smile, “Anything that’s important to you! That maybe you’d want a patch of, even if you didn’t need it!”

Now he was back, and, when Crow and him had run into each other, Crow had a flag-shaped patch sewn onto where the rip had been, with a rainbow pattern.

Perhaps it didn’t give the best impression that Luke had been blatantly staring at it, before he had even responded to Crow’s greeting; going silent; because Crow snapped in his face irritatedly. “Hey, I said something!”

Luke perked up, standing up straight and smiling nervously. “Yes!! I’m sorry, I’m just... I just noticed that... You took my advice!”

Crow lowered his eyelids. “Yeah. I’m sure that’s why you were staring at my patch.” He crossed his arms, looking away. “Of course. You were raised as an uppity, holier-than-thou rich boy. I don’t know why I thought you’d be any different. Typical.”

That had silently confirmed what Luke had been wondering, but the conclusion Crow had drawn was quite possibly the farthest from the truth he could be.

Even if Luke hadn’t had the courage to talk about it out loud (or even write it down), in the privacy of his mind, he had begun to wonder if the way he saw boys was not universal. While he hadn’t exactly kept it a secret (honesty was the best policy, after all), it was mainly because he hadn’t been directly asked about it. Which was good. Luke wasn’t sure he would be able to lie. But, if Luke hadn’t had anyone bring this up to him before he found out on his own, he doubted it would be brought up now. He had found out about boys liking boys by overheard something on television about people who are romantically interested in the same gender, who used the rainbow flag as their symbol of pride. It had only been a setup for a joke, so he didn’t know what the group was really about other than that, or even what it was called, but it had been bugging him since he heard it.

He had thought about kissing and holding hands with boys before (dare he say, even often), but Luke had wrote it off as something that everyone experienced or thought about. That boys were just, objectively, kissable and cute. But... If not everyone saw boys the way he did... Maybe...

But, who would Luke even ask? This hadn’t been something he had heard about until recently, and, so, somehow, it felt scary to bring it up. He would feel safer... More comfortable... With someone else who was like him, to ask questions. Learn more, help him understand.

And Crow (one of the most ‘objectively kissable and cute’ boys) just so happened to have a rainbow patch.

After Crow had snapped at him about staring, Luke waved his hands in front of his chest, his face burning. “N-no! It’s not like that, I... I was staring because... I think I...”

“You think you?” Crow echoed back, cocking an eyebrow as a silent dare.

Luke thought it would have been easier to talk about his thoughts about boys with someone who thought about boys the same way he did. But... For some reason, the words were still stuck in his throat, just as they had been when he considered bringing it up with Hershel, Emmy, Flora, and his parents... He could feel it on the tip of his tongue (I think I may like boys), but Crow was glaring at him, with such anger and... Just a little bit of hurt.

He couldn’t say it.

Luke swallowed pathetically, and sighed. “N... Nevermind. It’s nothing. I just didn’t expect it, is all...”

Crow rolled his eyes, but seemed to accept that explanation. “We don’t all wear dresses and makeup and have lisps,” he said simply, before changing the subject. “So, anyways, what’s new with you?”

Apparently, what was new was that Luke was now actively keeping a secret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I shamelessly projected onto Crow in the ‘If’ chapter. Now it’s Luke’s turn! Yeehaw, my dudes.
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos!


	15. Our

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Growing up, Crow found himself bitter about never having something completely his own. Now, he finds that saying something is ‘ours’, with Luke, can be much more satisfying than saying something was ‘his’.
> 
> Warning(s): Starvation mention
> 
> Age: Adults

Crow grew up not having much that he could have his own. He shared everything. His food, his money, his toys; everything he shared with his mother and the Black Ravens. He understood why every single person needed what they asked for, but it was still frustrating. Every young child had that feeling of frustration when they had to share their favorite thing with their sibling, and for Crow that was multiplied by one hundred, because he had no favorite thing. Because he had nothing to call his own. Nothing except himself.

He found himself apprehensive towards Luke at first, for that same reason. Luke had so many things. A father, for one. A nice house. And so many toys and sweets to call his own, and nobody else’s. Crow found himself even furious over that teddy bear Luke carried around in his bag, and got out when scared. He was jealous, insanely jealous, that Luke could have a comfort item like that. When he got scared, all he had to hold onto was himself. He couldn’t afford to have one little thing to hold onto. Nothing to comfort him when he was alone and at his lowest.

He had nothing for himself. Nothing he didn’t have to loan out regularly. He found himself despising the idea of sharing altogether.

Nowadays, sharing was something that Crow still had to do. But it was much sweeter than before.

Instead of giving out his food to his friends, because they might starve without it, he gave a bite off of his large plate to Luke, because he knew he had extra, and wanted to see his husband’s face light up. Instead of giving his toys to his mother to sell off so they could afford a basic need, he gave tokens of his affection to Luke, because he had seen something on the way home that had reminded him of his love. Instead of sharing the house with yet another relative because they were sick and needed shelter, Crow shared his home with Luke because he wanted to see him every day. Instead of sharing his bed with a friend, because they were shivering from the cold and couldn’t sleep, Crow shared his bed with Luke so they could be ever closer.

Before, he shared because either he or the other person would suffer severely if he didn’t. Now, he shared everything with Luke because he loved him, and because he wanted to make him as happy as he could possibly be.

Crow still shared most of his things. But Luke was someone he could call his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos appreciated!


	16. Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: When going through a box of stuff Luke had collected over the course of his and Crow’s relationship, he stumbles upon something that Crow didn’t know he had. (A continuation of the ‘Commitment’ chapter.)
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Adults

“I cannot believe you kept that.”

Crow was staring at a small piece of paper in Luke’s hands with a certain mix of disdain and disbelief, which his husband was staring at with loving nostalgia and a big, goofy grin. Luke sat on the couch, with Crow leaning over his shoulder from behind it, so he turned to him and rolled his eyes lovingly.

“Of course I kept it!” he responded, his voice light and fluffy. “It made me so, so happy to read. I wanted to treasure it!”

On the small piece of paper, old and torn, was a drawing of two birds. However, what had obviously made Luke keep it for all of these years was the small words in between them, in Crow’s handwriting. ‘Crow Triton.’

“How did you even...” Crow buried his face in one of his hands, sighing, before starting again. “How did you even get that?” he asked, his voice muffled.

“The teacher told me to turn in your paper for you, because you forgot! And my last name stands out in writing, sooo...” Luke shrugged, but his demeanor was still cheerful and relaxed.

Crow hopped over the back of the couch (a bad habit for which Luke often scolded him for) and plopped next to Luke, crossing his arms. He was blushing very slightly, and Luke only really noticed because he was sitting closer now.

“Crow,” Luke said in a warning tone for jumping onto the couch, before putting the paper back into the small box, labeled ‘Memories (Crow)’. “Don’t look so mad, hehe! You’re the one who wrote it~”

“Yeah, but nobody else was s’pposed to see it, much less you!! Besides, why even keep it now? I mean-“ Instead of finishing his sentence, Crow motioned to the wedding band on his finger, which matched Luke’s.

Upon it being called to his attention, Luke gently brought his hand to the ring on his other finger, and a small smile graced his face. “I know... But it’s still nice, you know, to keep bits of our past with us!” He leaned up a bit closer to Crow’s, resting his head on his shoulders. “Back then... I didn’t know whether or not you wanted to really settle down with me, or if you just thought about me while I was there. If I only really existed in your mind when I was with you...”

Crow snorted a bit, then nudged Luke with his elbow. “You’re always on my mind in some form or another, stupid. Whether it be romantic, melodramatic stuff, or just remembering that I’m not supposed to eat your cereal.”

“But I didn’t know that!” Luke replied. “So...” His expression went soft. “So, it was important to me, to see that you thought about me. And us... Married.”

Crow nudged Luke again, but his expression was a bit more sweet, as well. “Hey, don’t go get sappy on me, now. Back then, I was too stupid and emotionally dumb to really talk about how I was feeling, ya know? But, I dunno, being around you...” He shrugged, and looked away, even though he was smiling. “S’helped, I think. Now I can say more emotional stuff. So, if you wanted me to say something, or to tell you that you’re on my mind, I could!”

Luke smiled gently at that, making a content noise, and leaned more onto Crow, who, in turn, wrapped his arm around him, letting him snuggle up to his chest. Crow pressed a kiss to the top of Luke’s head, and kept his face there, buried in Luke’s hair.

“Dork.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated!


	17. Quote

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Sometimes, even when Crow didn’t realize it, his words could bring comfort to Luke, even from far away, involving a problem completely unrelated to him.
> 
> Warning(s): Binge-eating, self-esteem issues
> 
> Age: Children

Luke listened intensely in his darkened room, listening closely to the footsteps in the kitchen. They were slightly heavier and slower, so that meant it was just Clark up, now. Luke didn’t know what he was doing; perhaps tidying up? But, no matter what it was, he impatiently awaited for the telltale creaky opening of his parent’s room, and the audible shut.

He naturally felt a smile curl at his lips when the closing and shutting of the door cued him to both of his parents being in bed, but, nonetheless, he waiting for a few more minutes, just in case. Finally, Luke allowed himself off of his bed, his feet meeting the rug. He didn’t have to hold his hands out, like he used to. He knew the layout of his house by heart now.

Slowly, to avoid creaking, Luke opened his door, and slipped out, into the hallway. His bare feet hit the tile floor rhythmically, and he turned into the kitchen.

This was the only part Luke still needed to use his hands for. He ran his hands slowly across the kitchen cabinets and drawers, until he brushed up against cool metal. Figuring out his positioning, Luke stood in front of the fridge, and quietly opened it, and the light inside turned on, flooding the kitchen. Instead of going through the fridge (yet), Luke moved away from it, to shuffle through the silverware drawer, as he thought about the situation at hand.

When he and the professor weren’t going off, solving mysteries, Hershel gave Luke very simple, apprentice-like tasks. Organizing the books. Buying something small, like paperclips, from the market. Moving things. Getting a guest a cup of tea. On exciting days, he’d ask for Luke with help for a puzzle! But... For the most part, menial tasks that anyone could do.

For months and months, now, Luke had been asking and asking for a more difficult job. To prove himself as a useful and worthy apprentice! (Because, in complete honesty... The common question of, “Why do you keep that boy around,” that the professor was met with had started to get to Luke.) So finally, finally... Earlier today, Hershel had conceded, and given him an official-looking letter, telling him to put it in the mailbox of a student that was no more than a block away. The professor explained that it was urgent that it be delivered today, before then reciting the address. When Hershel asked if he needed to write it down, Luke puffed up his chest, proud to have an important task, and exclaimed, “Nope, I’ve got it! Leave it to me, professor!”

Luke twirled the fork in his hand, and internally cringed at the memory, before moving back to the fridge. He leaned into it a bit, standing on his toes to reach a high shelf. Chills surrounded him, and he shivered, despite his long-sleeved sleepshirt. He had to push a few things out of the way; butter, condiments, the like; but eventually found the moist chocolate cake hidden in the back of the fridge. Taking it in both hands, and being careful with the fork, he gently brought it down, and stared at it through the clear plastic, and licked his lips.

He had failed to deliver the letter.

First, he forgot the student’s address. Luke had only considered for a second to go back to the professor to ask again, before completely dismissing the idea, remembering how certain he had been when the professor asked to write it down. So, instead, he figured that he could ask around for a student of Hershel Layton’s, and perhaps he would get lucky... But, as he was walking up someone’s doorstep to knock and ask, their lawn sprinklers turned on. Luke had, of course, bolted, in an attempt to protect the letter, but it was too late. When he opened it, the letters were all smudged, and the paper was frail to the touch.

Luke couldn’t make himself go back to the professor after that; his first semi-important assignment as the professor’s apprentice, which he had been so confident about, and asked Hershel so profoundly for... And he had failed spectacularly. He simply threw the letter away, and walked back to his house, his eyes glued to the ground in shame.

It was stupid. Not only the failure, but how upset he was by it.

So, as he so lovingly enjoyed putting it in his own mind, as he stared at the chocolate cake... He was going to eat until he couldn’t feel feelings.

Just as he went to close the fridge so he could go back to his room and stuff his face in the dark, Luke was met with a moment of pause. Recalling the last time he tried to eat chocolate to deal with his emotions.

A few visits ago, Luke had been talking to Crow about a fight that he and Clark had, sulking. And, almost without realizing it, Luke dug into his pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar, and begun to unwrap it. Before he could bring it to his mouth, though, Crow snatched it away.

Making a ‘tut-tut-tut’ noise with his tongue, Crow waved the chocolate bar in front of Luke. “You can’t fix your problems with chocolate! Trust me...” He took a bite for himself. “I’ve seen people try. Food will make ya feel good in the moment, but talkin’ about stuff is the only way to actually fix the stuff that’s makin’ ya feel bad in the first place. This-“ He motioned with the chocolate again, with a cocked eyebrow. “Is just a quick-fix for crappy emotion stuff.”

Luke furrowed his eyebrows at the memory, and he felt his tummy twist at how... Applicable it was here. To all of his binge-eating.

Eating this cake... Wasn’t going to change that he had failed. Wasn’t going to change that he would have to see the professor tomorrow, and confess that he had messed up. It wasn’t going to change the underlying feeling that Luke had, of being a useless apprentice to the person he cared about so much. But it sure was going to give him a big tummy ache in the morning.

He stared at the cake for a long, long time. Going over every little bit, and salivating. Finally, he sighed softly to himself, and slid it back into the fridge and closing it, as well as putting the fork away.

Luke walked through the hallways feeling colder than before, from the cool refrigerator air. But, he didn’t find himself wanting to go back to get the cake...

The chocolatey, cool, comforting goodness of the cake would have been nice. But, in the end, Luke knew that facing his problem, and getting reassurance from his mentor, would be even sweeter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that this one isn’t particularly shippy, but, sometimes, when you’re sad, you just want to do it to ‘em, and it’s safe to say that I had to. (In other words, let Luke be my self-insert for this chapter, please and thanks.)


	18. Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Growing up in such a way that even a slight rain could you or hurt someone you cared about, of course, had a negative affect on Crow. Luckily, he has Luke to hold on to.
> 
> Warning(s): Mentions of natural disasters/very bad weather and anxiety
> 
> Age: Adults

Bad weather invoked bad anxiety in most people. And, for Crow, his anxiety was worse than most when it came to anything worse than clear weather.

He grew up with him, his friends, and his family all in weak houses. So, even a weak rain could cause him to worry; would everyone’s roof stay? Was everyone warm? Would they be alright if they caught a cold? More than once, Crow woke up to rain leaking through his roof, and landing onto his face, or just from being cold when a cold front went over the town. That was unfortunate, because he wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, fearing that everyone he cared about was going through the same, if not worse.

That was just for light things, like soft rain and changes in temperature... Things like hail, thunderstorms, flooding, and hurricanes were a million times worse.

Even if all of his friends were safe now... Even if he was in a stable house, with a heater and a solid roof... It still carried over. That anxiety, that worry, that sickening sense of ‘what if?’ With each rumble of thunder, Crow’s immediate first thought still jumped to if everyone he cared about was safe, and what would he do if he lost them...

Luke was usually the one to curl up to Crow as they slept, but for tonight, as the rain pounded against their roof and lightning filled the room with brightness through the window, Crow buried his face in Luke’s chest. He didn’t say anything; he never did when it thundered like this. But his body language showed his tenseness. He had his arms wrapped tight around Luke’s middle, was hiding against him, and, even if he tried to steady it, he was trembling just slightly. Luke didn’t say anything, either, to not overstimulate Crow. He simply held him close, and ran his hand gently through his husband’s hair. (He had grown it out long ago; during the day, he wore it in a low ponytail, but, when in bed, like this, he let it down.)

There was another crack of thunder, and Luke felt Crow flinch. It was as if the thunder had struck him, or he had watched it strike someone he loved. Luke pressed a soft kiss to Crow’s temple, not saying anything, but he could feel Crow relax a little bit afterwards. He even felt a soft, warm breath from a small sigh on his chest.

A few moments later, Luke began to notice that Crow was trying to match their breathing, and he smiled to himself. He knew that Crow listened to his breathing and heartbeat for comfort, which is why he liked to be close to Luke’s chest when he was scared like this. He wondered if this was Crow’s way of stopping himself from hyperventilating? Just in case, Luke deepened his breathing purposely, and Crow, indeed, matched it. It hitched for a moment when thunder came again, but it immediately went back to imitating Luke’s. A lungful in, then out.

Luke, as much as he disliked thunder himself, found the rain sounds against the roof quite relaxing, and he had to fight to stay awake. He refused to sleep, to leave Crow alone with his fears... Not until Crow’s deep breathing evened out completely, into a sweet, soft snore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live in the Southern United States and, as you may know, a bad tornado/hail/thunderstorm warning has been around recently... So this prompt hit quite close to home.


	19. Smooth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Crow has tried to flirt before, but it always went straight over Luke’s head.
> 
> Warning(s): Choking mention
> 
> Age: Teens

About every other year, Luke managed to convince Clark and Brenda to throw some sort of festive holiday party; whether it be Valentine’s, winter holiday, New Year’s, or something else. He did this for two main reasons; the first one was because he liked the temporary popularity it got him. But the second one was that it was a way to get all the kids his age together for lots of good food. In fact, hearing that Crow couldn’t afford a Thanksgiving feast with his family was what inspired him to ask in the first place.

This year, Luke happened to be home close to Halloween, so he decided to throw a costume party. (Which was ironic, because every day acting as the Black Raven was a sort of made Halloween every day for Crow, but, hey.) As per usual, Crow and Luke ended up hanging out by the table with food. (Well, actually, Crow ended up hanging out by the table with food to try and sneak as much food home as possible, and Luke hung out wherever Crow was.)

Luckily, Crow managed to sew some pockets onto his scrounged-up werewolf costume, so he had plenty of room for sneaking snacks back home. Luke, himself, kept on playing with his vampire cape as he looked away, talking and pretending to not notice. Rambling on about his visit to his Uncle Randall’s house, and how he kept flirting with his husband and wife...

Crow popped a candy into his mouth. He wished he could flirt with Luke. It wasn’t like he didn’t try... But Luke was just so oblivious to it, and he just didn’t seem to ‘understand’, even now that they were dating.

Nonetheless, he decided to try anyways, just for fun. He swallowed down the hard candy, and leaned a little bit towards Luke so only he could hear him. “Hey, Bluebird, I like your costume. Is it of the best boyfriend ever?”

Luke blinked slowly in response, as if buffering, before raising an eyebrow. “No, I’m a vampire. See?” He opened his mouth and pointed to his fake fangs.

Crow decided to not grace that with a response, instead just giving Luke a look, and putting another hard candy in his mouth. He knew Luke wouldn’t get it, but it didn’t make it any less frustrating.

After a moment of Crow not responding, Luke continued talking, tilting his head with a grin. “Besides! If I dressed as the best boyfriend ever, you’d be mad at me.”

Crow still had a mouthful of candy, but made a questioning ‘mm?’ noise. He assumed Luke may be referring to his jealous streak, and he was worried he’d get jealous over whoever he chose to dress up as.

Luke giggled. “You get angry with me when I steal your clothes, silly!”

Crow immediately choked on his candy, his face flushing, before swallowing harshly, and coughing. He looked up at Luke to see him trying to hold back laughter at his wide eyes and flushed face.

Once he could speak again, Crow jabbed his finger at Luke’s chest, his voice cracking. “You’re not ALLOWED to turn it BACK onto ME!”

“Aww, what happened to not following the rules, Lovebird?”

“Shut!”

“Shut what?”

“Up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m writing a Halloween fanfic in April. Oh, you know.
> 
> Please leave a comment and kudos!


	20. Token

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Crow acts awfully different in the winter, and Luke notices... Though he chooses not to ask himself why he cares so deeply about Crow’s happiness.
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Children

Luke tended to notice a few small changes in how Crow acted during the wintertime. He would sleep over at people’s houses more, he’d constantly have his scarf over his reddening nose, and he began to actively dread going outside. But, one year, Luke figured out it wasn’t the winter that caused this shift in behavior; it was the cold itself. For the harsh colds began quite a few weeks earlier that year, and Crow shifted with it accordingly. (Luke payed a lot of attention to Crow, but he chose not to ask himself why.)

Luke brought this up to his mother, over a warm lunch as it snowed outside. “I mean,” he said, after swallowing a mouthful of soup, “It’s not like he’s so poor that he’s homeless!”

Brenda looked almost confused for a moment, before smiling a little bit at her son’s innocence. “Luke... Just because Crow has a house does not mean that he’s able to keep warm.”

Luke raised an eyebrow. “Really? Why? Can’t he just ask his mother to turn up the thermostat?”

“Dear, not everyone has a thermostat.”

“Really?!” Luke asked, his voice picking up in volume, and setting his spoon down. “I thought it came with the house!”

“No, sweetie. Heating systems, good blankets, and warm clothes all cost extra, I’m afraid... And this goes for things like hot food and drinks, as well.”

“Well, I think that’s just awful!! Everyone deserves to be warm!” Luke chose not to ask himself why he was so upset by this.

Brenda just smiled sadly in response, as a silent agreement.

After lunch that day, Luke went to his room to look through his stuff. He had some old clothes that were too small for him, now; and, though Crow was taller, he was also skinnier. He collected various things he no longer needed, going through all his drawers. He also went to the living room to search for any old blankets they may not need.

By the end of it, Luke was able to look through all he collected as he lied them out neatly on his bed. It included a sweater that Luke had loved to wear before he grew out of it, a few jackets, a pair of mildly tattered mittens, and a fluffy blanket. (He tried to tell himself that nobody in his family used that blanket anymore, but he knew he’d be hearing about it from his mother later...)

He put all of those things in a box, from which he had received a gift inside. He regretted tearing off the paper, remembering how he had thrown it away without a second thought, but Luke liked to keep the bows saved from presents. He taped the box shut, and taped the bow on, and he smiled proudly at his minimalistic, but effective, present. It still had that dull, brown color, but the bow was a bright blue, making it clear that this was, indeed, a present.

After Luke explained he wanted to deliver a present to a friend to his mother, he took off towards Crow’s house, his breaths coming out as chilled, foggy breath. He hadn’t bothered to put on proper snow clothing himself before leaving, so the cold nipped at him, and the snow got into his shoes as it crunched underneath his feet, but, for whatever reason, Luke found himself not caring. He was determined to help Crow... Though he chose not to ask himself why he cared so deeply, telling himself it was a gentlemanly thing to do. (That was the only reason, for sure!)

Luke arrived at Crow’s front doorstep, and, enthusiastic to give his gift, reached to knock, but paused. Suddenly, even though it was cold, his face felt hot. What would he say to Crow? What if he didn’t like it or refused to accept it? (Or, worse... What if he loved it so much he smiled that rare, genuine smile that made Luke want to be close to him, just for Luke? What if he did something stupid because of it? He chose not to ask himself what kind of stupid thing he’d do.)

Luke whimpered to himself, and retracted his hand, simply placing the box on the doorstep, then heading home.

The next day, at school, Luke overheard Badger asking Crow how he had been able to afford that new sweater. Crow laughed, and Luke felt his face go hot again. But he chose not to ask himself why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I chose to interpret this as ‘token of affection’! And it’s almost Easter. Yesterday I wrote something Halloween-themed, and today I wrote something winter holiday-themed. Oh well, I guess?
> 
> Please leave a comment and kudos!


	21. Urban

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Luke’s job takes him and Crow to London. Crow was not fond of the idea of going to a big city at first, but the sheer amount of cool stores managed to change his mind.
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Adults

Even though Luke didn’t usually like to make it obvious they were a couple in public, he still let Crow hold onto his hand, just so they wouldn’t get separated; especially because this was Crow’s first time in a big city like London. Luke had been invited to investigate a case and, for the first time, he was actually able to invite Crow along with him. Crow had originally grimaced at the idea of going to a big, busy city... But his attitude took a 180 once he actually arrived in London.

They had been there for only a few hours, and Crow had been basically darting around the street corner the whole time, looking at things that he didn’t really see often in the smaller towns he grew up in. Luke had grown up in London the first few years of his life before moving to Misthallery, so he found himself charmed by Crow’s antics; fawning over things he was familiar with. At this point, they had already gone to many different shops, and Crow now had multiple new books, trinkets, and games, as well as a blueberry ice-cream cone that he held in his free hand.

Luke turned around, and smiled at Crow licking at his frozen treat like he had never tasted anything that delicious. “Having fun?”

Crow took a break from his food, to talk, his eyes glowing with enthusiasm. “Yeah!! There’s a cool shop ‘round every corner! I’ve never even seen a place that sold exclusively sweet stuff before!! There’s loads of stuff to do! I thought everything would be gray and boring.”

Luke chuckled. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself, but we’re going to need money to pay for our hotel, and buy food. You can’t spend it all in our first few minutes.”

Crow waved his ice-cream slightly, making sure not to drop it. “This counts as food!”

“You shouldn’t even be having that! You’re lactose intolerant!”

Crow shrugged. “I will stare God in the eyes and drink a whole gallon of milk, for I fear nothing,” he replied, without a hint of irony in his tone, before going back to eating his treat. Luke grimaced to himself. He was going to have to hear Crow whine about his stomach hurting later.

“I’ll lay off until we get to our hotel,” Crow announced, after a few bites, before quickly pointing to a small, quaint shop. “After we go there.”

Luke tried to give Crow a frustrated look, but his smile ruined it. (It was so nice to see Crow enthused about something, when it was Luke usually dragging him around like this... Usually in plushie stores.) “You don’t even know what they’re selling there, doofus.”

“Yeah, but it looks cool,” Crow shot back, before suddenly speeding up, so he was ahead of Luke and tugging on his hand. “Come on! I’ll buy you something and we’ll go to the hotel straight after!”

“That’s what you said about the ice-cream shop,” Luke teased, but allowed himself to be pulled along by Crow, anyways. Even if they were spending a bit, it was still worth it to see Crow so excited to visit his hometown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The small lactose intolerant exchange is based on a conversation between my friend and I. (I was Crow, my friend was Luke.)
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos!


	22. Vows

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Crow didn’t like to make promises he couldn’t keep. Luckily, he knew he could keep this one.
> 
> Warning(s): Talk of child abandonment
> 
> Age: Teens

Crow didn’t like to make promises. He often prided himself on his loyalty to his word, so, if he didn’t make any promises, he wouldn’t ever break a promise. He only kept promises he knew, for absolute sure, he could and would keep, and, even then, he often hesitated. He had never broken a single promise before, and he planned to keep it that way.

One of the few promises he made was to Luke, one of the first times that he had reached to Crow for emotional support during their relationship. He had a bad argument with his parents, and was now leaning on his boyfriend for comfort; literally, leaning onto him, crying into his chest as they sat together on Crow’s bed.

“It’s alright,” Crow muttered into Luke’s hair, rubbing circles into his back. He could feel the front of his shirt getting wet from the tears, but he didn’t particularly mind.

“But... What if it’s not?” Luke responded with a shaking voice. “What if it’s not alright? What if they hate me?”

“It was an argument. You can argue, and not hate the person you’ve argued with. Disagreements don’t exclusively happen between people who secretly despise each other.”

“But what if they hate me now? Because I tried to disagree with them?”

“Well, that would make them awful parents, and you should try to escape someone like that, anyway. Nobody should hate their child over a disagreement.”

“But, if they abandon me-“

“You can stay with me.”

“But your mom-“

“She likes you, and she’s very sympathetic. She’d get it.”

“But your money-“

“You wouldn’t be much trouble. You could share my room, and you could bring stuff from your current house. We’d just need extra food, and Mom got a raise at her job recently. We’d be happy to keep you in for as long as y’need, Bluebird.”

Luke went quiet for a moment, and that helped Crow relax a tad. He had long ago learned that saying ‘that won’t happen’ to someone making awful predictions often didn’t work. It was best to just offer solutions for their worst-case scenarios.

“... But... What if we get into an argument like that?”

Crow blinked, thinking, before asking, “What about it?”

“What if you hated me because of it?”

Crow chuckled quietly, and brought his hand from Luke’s back to his hair, running his hands through it. “Luke, even if you tried your hardest, I could never hate you. Never.”

“Promise?”

Crow froze at the word that had been whispered out in a sob, sounding so vulnerable and broken. He didn’t like to make promises. And emotions were wild things. He didn’t want to regret promising anything on something constantly fluctuating, changing, almost seeming random...

But, holding Luke so close to him, being surrounded by his warmth, and feeling him tremble, Crow knew that he could never hate him. Even if their relationship ended on awful terms... He would never be able to hate the selfless, happy-go-lucky boy with secret insecurities who he fell in love with.

He closed his eyes, and held Luke closer. “I promise,” he whispered, and he knew he would never break it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudos!


	23. Wish

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: When you wish upon a star, will your dream really come true?
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Children

“I doubt the answer to 7 times 7 is written in the sky.”

Luke turned his attention away from his bedroom window, and back to Crow, who was sitting on his bed with crossed legs, holding a flashcard up. They were designated ‘study buddies’ by their teacher for this month’s test, but Luke kept staring off into space. (Both literally and figuratively, seeing as how it was just about getting dark.) He could easily look past Crow, as he was facing towards the window, and Crow had his back to it.

Luke chuckled apologetically, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry! I just got distracted by the stars.”

“You can look at the stars any day.”

“Yeah, well.” It seemed like Luke was going to leave it at that, before he rested his chin on his hand, looking out the window again with a glazed-over look in his eye. “Back in London, the stars weren’t this clear, you know? It’s mesmerizing to see them like this... In a small town like this, they’re actually bright, like how they’re described in storybooks.”

Crow snorted. “Are they not bright in London?”

“Not really. Pollution and stuff... Also, it’s darker here, so I can see them better overall...”

Following Luke’s eyes, Crow turned around so he could better look out the window, putting the flashcard aside for now and leaning up against the wall that Luke’s bed was pressed to. It wasn’t as magnificent for him as it was for his study buddy, as he grew up with these stars, but he crossed his arms and smiled, because they were nice, all the same. “I didn’t know stars looked different dependin’ on where you live.”

“Mm.” Changing the subject slightly, Luke brought his knees to his chest, and looked at Crow rather than the stars. “Do you believe in wishing on stars makes your wishes come true?”

Crow was still staring out the window, and his bangs covered most of his face from the angle Luke was looking at him from, so he couldn’t see his expression. “No.”

“Really? Why not?”

“Because my wish hasn’t come true, and it’s been a looong while. Either the wish-granting entity is really behind, or stars don’t grant wishes.”

“You wished for something?” Luke shifted so he was sitting with his legs crossed, like Crow, and leaned forward a bit, curious. “What did you wish for?”

Crow finally looked away from the window, back at the other boy, and flinched slightly when he saw how close he was. “Uh-“ He cleared his throat when his voice cracked slightly, his face turning pink. (Luke assumed from the voicecrack.) “It... It was stupid.”

“No wish can be stupid!” Luke smiled so his teeth showed. “I don’t usually know what to wish for, so I usually just wish for a stuffie I saw in a market that I want! And I don’t think that’s a stupid wish.”

Crow rolled his eyes, but didn’t respond out loud.

Luke scooted just a bit closer, so they were shoulder-to-shoulder, sitting next to each other. “Come on, now. You’ve got me all curious!” He giggled.

Crow’s eyes seemed to want to look away, but always naturally went back to Luke. His face was a dark red now, and he took multiple breaths, like starting to say something, before letting it out awkwardly. He finally seemed to gather the courage when he stuttered out, “I wished for y...”

Then, there must have been some sort of shift in Luke’s demeanor. Maybe it was how he was tilting his head a bit, or how his eyes were sweetly curious. But Crow swallowed back the next word, turning away from Luke completely. Even if Luke couldn’t see his red face, he could hear the blush in Crow’s voice when he exclaimed, “I’m not going to tell my wish to someone who doesn’t even know what 7 times 7 is!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment and kudos!


	24. Xylophone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Luke, at the request of the teacher, attempts to teach Crow how to read sheet music; at the cost of nervous butterflies, inability to speak properly, and lots of blushing.
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Children

Luke sat among many children, on the classroom floor (due to budget cuts, the music room didn’t have desks), with small, almost toylike xylophones in their laps. The room was filled with a noisy chiming as they tried to read the sheet music in front of them. The teacher made rounds, helping each student as she passed them by.

They were learning the song ‘Hot Cross Buns’, and, for some reason, Luke couldn’t help but mutter the lyrics to himself as he gently tapped the notes onto the instrument. “Hot... Cross... Buns,” he murmured, paying extra attention to where he was hitting, to get the right notes. “One a-penny, two-...”

The teacher suddenly exclaimed, “Luke!”, and that earned a flinch from him, as he hadn’t expected it. But, once he regained his composure, he put his mallet atop the instrument, and he smiled. “Yes, ma’am?”

She kneeled down next to him, beaming. “You’re doing so excellently!”

That earned a blush from Luke, and he raised his shoulders, giggling. “Well, ah, I already know the violin, so I already know how to read sheet music...”

“Well, if you already know how, may you consider helping someone who is struggling for me?”

Luke blinked in surprise, then he smiled proudly, a sense of importance making him puff his chest up a bit. “Of course!”

His teacher pointed to Crow, who was squinting at his paper, perplexed. “Could you perhaps help Crow over there? He’s having a difficult time, and I need to attend to all students, and not just him.”

As per usual when he was asked to go near Crow, Luke felt a fluttery feeling in his belly. “Oh! Uh...” He tried to smile through his bright-pink face. “Alrighty, Miss!”

“Thank you, dear!”

When Luke sat down next to Crow, after moving, the other boy didn’t immediately seem to notice him, continuing to stare at the paper. So, once he looked to his left and saw a shy-looking Luke sitting there, he flinched slightly, but immediately calmed down, his expression melting into his usual one of indifference. “Oh, hey.”

“Hi!” Luke greeted, and he was immediately self-conscious about being too enthusiastic, so he toned it down. “Uhm... The teacher told me to help you out with reading the notes.”

Crow narrowed his eyes slightly. “Oh. Great. I’m one of those kids now.”

“Everyone struggles with something! I’m no good at multiplication, so I go to tutoring.” Luke didn’t seem bothered by this, and immediately went to read the sheet music over Crow’s shoulder, leaning a bit towards him. But, once he realized how he was leaning, he snapped back to sitting up straight, his face going hot. “Erm-!”

Why was it always like this with Crow? Why was he stupid and shy? Why did he feel so nervous and blushy?

He swallowed, and then nervously chuckled, pointing to the sheet. “Uh, that means you hit-“ He pointed to a key. “This one, right here!”

Crow hit the note, and Luke habitually muttered, “Hot...”, the first word of the song. Crow suddenly straightened his back and he looked at Luke with a dark red face. “H-huh?!”

“Oh!” Luke, not understanding what Crow took that as, smiled. “I like to sing the song with it.”

Crow relaxed his shoulders, sighing slightly. “Oh. I thought-... Nevermind, just show me the next note!”

And Luke did; showing him the relationship between the notes and the sheet. He was careful to not touch Crow (he was nervous about that, for whatever reason), and he sang a word with every note Crow played.

By the end of class, Crow was able to play the whole tune... Even without paying full attention, as he was watching Luke happily sing from the corner of his eye.

“Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! One a-penny, two a-penny, hot cross buns!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second chapter in a row with fluffy, mildly school-themed child Luke and Crow with the two of them having stupid baby-crushes on each other. But hey, what can I say? I’m predictable.
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos!


	25. Yes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Luke always lectures Crow about how asking for help is a good thing. But, now that it’s Luke struggling, he seems ashamed to ask for it.
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Teens

Luke furrowed his eyebrows, sitting at his desk and tilting back on his chair. (A bad habit. He had fallen backwards more than once. Many of those times in public.) He stared up at the ceiling, thinking of a puzzle his mentor had given him earlier that day. He wanted to come back with the correct answer later that day, as a sort of surprise, but, no matter what angle he attempted to look at it, it just didn’t seem to quite make sense... A puzzle piece of it seemed missing, or perhaps there were too many pieces. He couldn’t wrap his head around it.

Crow, who had been sat on Luke’s bed in relative silence, looked up from the paper he was writing on. (Money calculations. Running the local Black Market required a lot of math.) “Still thinkin’ about that puzzle, huh, Blueberry?”

Luke sat all four legs of his chair on the ground, leaning forward onto his desk to bury his face in his hands. “I am...” he replied, a little pinch of shame hanging over his voice.

“It’s been a while, huh?”

Luke nodded, without turning around.

“And you still got no idea?”

Another nod. Luke’s shoulders were slumped.

Crow twirled the pencil in his hand for a moment, before pointing it at Luke. “I could help, ya know. I’m alright at puzzles, I think.” He knew he wasn’t as good as, say, Professor Layton, or even as good as Luke, but he knew could offer a different perspective. And, from what he heard Luke ramble about, that could be all a puzzle-solver needs.

Luke turned around in his chair, so he could look at Crow with an upset expression. “No! I’ve gotta solve without help! Otherwise, the professor will be disappointed in me for not being clever enough to do it by myself!”

“The prof won’t know if I help. He’s in the other room, but he’s not listenin’. And with all that he goes on about gentleman stuff, I’m sure he wouldn’t eavesdrop. And if he did...” Crow chuckled. “Then I’m sure he would have figured out that we were boyfriends by now, and given a rousing speech, before pointing at us and saying, ‘The gays are YOU!’”

Instead of laughing, Luke just bit his lip. As much as he hated to admit it... Crow had a good point. (Though Hershel probably wouldn’t call them out like a villain.) But he still tried to argue with Crow’s logic. “Yeah, well-“

“Is it actually Layton that’ll be disappointed in you if you asked for help?”

Luke looked away at that, staring at the floor. The tips of his ears burnt. Crow could read him like a book, couldn’t he? “...”

Crow put his work to the side, and crossed his arms, tilting his head to the side slightly. His bangs tilted along with him, tickling his nose. “You help me study all the time. What’s that you always say about accepting help not making ya stupid?”

“That’s true for your case, but-!”

“No buts,” Crow interrupted, holding a finger up, like putting a finger to Luke’s lips. “No double standards, just ‘cause it’s you and not me! If you’re strugglin’ so much, the least I can do is offer a hand.”

Luke fidgeted, running his hands along the top part of his chair. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it.

“Part of a relationship is not only helpin’, but acceptin’ help,” Crow prodded, and he smiled encouragingly. He leaned forward just slightly.

A few moments of silence passed, before Luke finally looked up from the ground, his face flushed as he looked his boyfriend in the eyes. “Alright... Crow, could you please help me with this puzzle?”

“Yes, of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudos!


	26. Zoo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Perhaps it’s not the greatest idea to bring someone who can communicate with animals to the zoo. Especially when said person has no sense of fear with big animals.
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Adults

“Grrr-ow! Grrr-oar!”

Luke was leaning heavily over the zoo’s railings, his hands on the bar as he tipped so far forward his toes were barely touching the ground. Inside the enclosure was a white tiger, laying on her side, against a fake rock, watching Luke with intense pointedness in her stare, her blue eyes standing out against her white fur. With a sort of graceful ease, she responded to his calls, with a grunt and growl of her own. Her ears flicked forward, showing she was listening for Luke’s response.

Not caring if people were staring at him (he was used to it, at this point), Luke called, “Rrr-ah? Grrroah?”

Crow, who had his back to Luke to ask a worker where a certain exhibit was, finally turned around to him. “Alright, so-“ He practically flinched when he saw how far Luke was leaning over the rails; even a slight breeze would easily tip him over, not to mention if some jerk decided to shove him. “JESUS CHRIST ON A BICYCLE-!” he blurted out, stumbling over his feet once as he rushed over to Luke. He hugged him tight from behind, wrapping his arms around his husband’s chest, trying to make sure he’d be steady.

Luke paused in his communication with the tiger, as if loading, before turning his head to greet Crow. “Hiya, Lovebird!”

“Do you realize how far you’re leaning?!” Crow barked, his eyes narrowed. To anyone else, it would seem like anger, but Luke could feel how Crow’s hands trembled against his chest as a sign of anxiety.

Luke giggled. “Aw, don’t worry! Even if I did fall in, she wouldn’t hurt me! She said so!”

“Just because she says she won’t doesn’t mean that she’s telling the truth!”

“Animals aren’t like people. They have no reason to lie!” Even so, Luke leaned away from the railings, and Crow hesitantly let him go. Luke turned around, so his back was to the tiger’s enclosure, to face Crow, but not before purring at the tiger as a goodbye. “I noticed she was pacing around, so I told her to relax and tell me what was wrong. She said that the zookeepers forgot to feed her! I was just telling her I’d remind them,” Luke explained.

Crow huffed, crossing his arms. His eyes flicked away from Luke. “Well, you didn’t have to lean so far. You could have gotten hurt. If not from the tiger, from falling.”

“Alright, alright! I’ll be more careful next time. Promise!” As if to seal the promise, Luke made a ‘cross my heart’ motion. “Now, let’s find whoever feeds the animals, yeah?” Before Crow could even properly respond, Luke already had intertwined their fingers together, and begun to lead him somewhere else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love how Luke’s animal communication is never explained. Yes, it’s hinted to be from Clark, as a hereditary thing, but it’s literally never questioned or discussed. Like, ‘Yes, this boy can talk to animals, and you’re just going to have to deal with that. Anyways, back to the story!’
> 
> Anyhow. Please leave comments and kudos!


	27. &

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Luke had too many ‘and’s on his to-do list, and he finds himself reaching the dreadful conclusion he had to cancel his and Crow’s date at the last minute.
> 
> Warning(s): Mild anxiety
> 
> Age: Teens

When Luke was stressed, he enjoyed making checklists of things he needed to do. Not only was it similar to how Hershel did things, but seeing everything he had to do, in one place, helped him relax. It made him realize it wasn’t so much, and he was typically able to get out of whatever overwhelmed funk he got into.

But, sometimes, checklists it made it worse. This happened to be one of those times.

Luke found himself staring at disbelief down at his checklist, which he had written at his desk. He stared where it lied out in front of him, his breathing quickening just slightly. He had this many things to do? It was possible he thought it was less before he had it all on a list! He had tests to study for, and apprenticeship work to handle, and a family reunion to attend, and homework, and a date with Crow he had long ago planned. It was relatively early in the morning, but Luke still doubted he could get everything done. He felt something twist in his gut, a horrible sense of anxiety washing over him. If he wanted to get everything else done, he would have to cancel something.

He couldn’t cancel his homework, of course, and the tests were worth a lot of his grade. The professor was up to his ears in work, as well, and Luke would feel just awful canceling. (On top of that, Luke had never canceled on Hershel, and he didn’t plan to stop now.) He would like to cancel going to the family reunion, but no way would Clark allow him. He was always going on about how much time he was spending with Hershel, rather than him (especially after he had accidentally called Hershel ‘Dad’ in front of him). That left...

Luke felt his shoulders slump, and he looked pointedly away from the checkpoint of his date with Crow on the paper. He felt awful about it immediately. Crow was rarely able to come over to his home, and he had seemed so excited to see Luke the last time they had chatted over the phone. He didn’t even want to think about how much he’d be disappointing his boyfriend, not to even mention if Crow got angry with him for canceling last-minute. Luke felt his heart clench, like someone was squeezing it, when the awful possibility of Crow being sad jolted into his mind. What if he felt he was Luke’s lowest priority?

Nonetheless, he knew that there was no better way to handle this. It was best to call Crow before he began his bus trip to Luke’s town.

Trying to get it over with, Luke picked up the home phone in the living room, and then returned to his bedroom, closing the door behind him. (He liked to feel alone with Crow when he called.) He dialed Crow’s number (well, Crow’s mom’s number, technically) almost entirely by muscle memory, before sitting on his bed and holding it up to his ear, listening to the rings.

When Crow picked up, the first thing Luke heard was a muffled, “Thanks, Ma!”, before there was a shifting sound on the other end. Then, like Crow was talking into the phone, he was greeted with the usual, “Heya, Bluebird!”

Luke forced a smile, until he remembered Crow couldn’t see him. “Hi, Crow.”

“I was just about to take off! Better make this quick, or I’ll be late to catch the bus. What’s up?”

Luke felt another feeling of guilt twist in his stomach, and his head dipped forward. “Uhm... I’m sorry, but... Could we cancel?”

There was a short silence on the other end, followed by a, “Why?”

Luke had been hoping Crow wouldn’t ask that. “It’s just... Just that I have so much stuff to do!” He began to list them off, from the top of his head. “I have homework, and apprentice stuff, and a family reunion, and tests to study for...”

“Woah, woah!” Luke could imagine Crow holding up his hands in a ‘slow down!’ motion. “That’s way too many ‘and’s! I’m heading over there now for our date.”

“B-but Crow-“

“Oh, hush! I’m not expectin’ actual date stuff from you when you’ve got lotsa stuff like that. I’ll just help ya! Study, homework, apprentice junk. That can all be helped with, right? Then I can walk ya to your family reunion! No need for anything fancy.”

Luke felt a small weight lift off his shoulders and, as such, he stopped slumping forward; his back straightening. “R-really? But... It’s supposed to be a date, and...”

“Oh, quit with that. A date doesn’t have to be lovey-dovey, milkshake-sharing romantic garbage. Any time with you and I alone together could be considered a date!”

“But... Dates have to be romantic-“

“In that case, my definition would still be a date, then.”

Luke blinked, and a small smile graced his lips. Crow went silent on the other line, and Luke could guess it was because he was embarrassed. They both knew what he meant by saying that.

‘Any time with you and I alone together is romantic.’

Luke giggled. “Okay. Get on the bus, then. You’re getting lots and lots of kisses when you get over here!!”

“Shut up...”

Luke could practically hear Crow blushing over the phone, and that earned another sappy smile from him. “I’ll shut up if you hurry up! Mwah!”

“Mwah.”

Luke listened to the tone meaning Crow had hung up, and he sighed softly to himself, keeping the phone to his ear. It felt like one ‘and’ had been lifted from his shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will I ever stop writing about one of them being stressed out about life, and the other comforting them in some way? No! Because I have crippling anxiety and it makes me feel better.
> 
> Please leave comments and kudos!


	28. !

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Crow gives Luke a kiss, and Luke is surprised by how cold Crow’s lips are.
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Adults

“Heya, Bluebird.”

Luke was greeted with a familiar sentence and voice, as a pair of arms wrapped around his waist from behind as he tried to chop some vegetables for his dinner. He smiled a bit to himself, feeling the familiar weight on his shoulders indicating that Crow had rested his chin there. “What is it?” he asked, not stopping his work with the food.

Crow didn’t respond, but shifted his head so his face was buried in the crook where Luke’s shoulder and neck met. He sighed, and made a gentle humming noise doing so. After a few long moments, it became clear Crow wasn’t planning on answering.

“I won’t know what you want unless you tell me~...” Luke teased.

After a long time of staying as he was, Crow brought himself closer to Luke’s neck, and pressed his lips lightly to a favorite spot of his, right underneath Luke’s jawline. Luke shivered so hard he nearly cut his finger on the knife, feeling a cold chill spark in his neck where Crow’s lips had touched.

“My goodness, your lips are freezing!!!” Luke exclaimed, finally setting his knife aside and turning around to face Crow. That was immediately met with Crow going back to hugging him and hiding his face in Luke’s neck.

“Been eating ice,” he mumbled as a quick explanation. His voice sounded tired.

Feeling his eyebrows furrow with concern naturally, Luke returned Crow’s hug gently. “You eat ice when you’re feeling down, right?”

Crow hummed, and began to draw light circles and shapes into Luke’s back with his finger, as if to distract himself. His movements were slow and lazy.

“Would you like it if we cuddled?”

No response, verbal or physical. But, the way Crow has his face buried in Luke’s neck, Luke could feel his face heat up just slightly.

“I could lay on your chest and belly, the way you like.” Luke smiled with that offer. Whenever Crow was anxious, he liked physical pressure to be put onto him, and Luke seemed to work as a makeshift weighted blanket.

As expected, that earned a response. Crow’s arms tightened around Luke’s body, but immediately relaxed, as a sort of loving squeeze. “Mm.”

Luke sighed with a small grin, and tilted his head just slightly so he could return Crow’s earlier display of affection, by pressing a kiss to his neck. He felt Crow shiver a bit; from shock, rather than coldness like Luke had.

“I’m gonna be the one giving the smooches,” Luke stated, after he had kissed him. “Your lips are so cold, they gave me frostbite. But...” He moved back a bit, and saw Crow’s exhausted expression for the first time. He brought his hands to gently cup his husband’s face, before pressing another kiss to his mouth; his warm lips meeting Crow’s cold ones.

It was brief, but when Luke pulled away, he could tell Crow was slightly more relaxed than before, which made him feel so nice he almost forgot to finish what he was saying.

“But,” he repeated, with a loving smile, “I’ll warm them up, as many times as you need.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I think ‘!’, I think of being shocked by something cold, for some reason. So I went with it!
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!


	29. ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Right when Crow is about to get to sleep, he is suddenly hit with a wave of questions from Luke.
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Adults

“Why did you decide to grow out your hair?”

Crow muttered incoherently at first, opening his eyes slowly. He was immediately greeted Luke was laying next to him, face-to-face, only inches away. Their chatter had ended a little while ago, and Crow had assumed they were going to sleep now, before Luke had suddenly spoken after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

In response, Crow raised an eyebrow, lazily. It was hard to keep his eyes opened. “Why?”

“I just realized I never found out why, is all!” Luke smiled so brightly it practically lit up the dark room, and Crow knew he couldn’t just not answer.

“Mm.” Crow shifted just slightly, pulling the blankets higher up his arm after they had slid off. “Well, when I was younger, Ma couldn’t afford haircuts, and we didn’t have any scissors sharp enough to cut hair. So, I just decided to let it grow for a while. After a few months, I decided I liked it, because it kept me warm when I let it down. So... That’s that.” He shrugged, then buried his face just a tad into the pillow, as a silent indicator that he was done talking.

Luke didn’t seem to take the hint, as he followed that up with, “Did you have a favorite book series when you were younger?”

Crow paused for a beat, to consider the question, before responding with, “Didn’t read much. Couldn’t afford to buy books, or have a library card. But the teacher let me borrow a few Harry Potter books, when I ran out of things to read for book reports, ‘nd that’s the closest I got to reading a whole book series.”

“Who was your favorite character?”

“I think it was Ron...” Crow pointedly closed his eyes after answering, and buried himself under the blankets further. He was tired, and, as much as he loved to talk to Luke, he loved it slightly less when it was this late, and he was this tired.

“Were you surprised when he ended with Hermoine?”

Crow managed to open his eyes again, even if his eyelids felt heavy. “Bluebird, it’s late... What’s with this interview, all of a sudden...?”

Luke looked a bit surprised at Crow’s question, before he curled up a bit and smiled bashfully. “Hehe... It’s just that... I like to hear you talk sometimes... You know?”

Crow sighed gently in response, pulling Luke closer, and beginning to run his hands through his hair. That seemed to help him relax, as he felt Luke uncurl and lean up to him. “Well, you can hear me talk in the morning,” he murmured, before pressing a lazy smooch to Luke’s cheek. “Alright...?”

Luke returned the hug, burying his face in Crow’s neck. “Mmhmm...”

Once again, the room was silent. Crow listened closely to the even breathing of Luke, and felt his hot breath puffing against his neck. Naturally, his eyes drifted shut again, and he melted back into the pillow and mattress, his breathing slowing...

Suddenly, Crow’s eyes snapped opened.

“Wait, Ron ended with Hermoine?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kudos!


	30. -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: A familiar song comes onto the radio, and reminds Luke and Crow of how far they had come with each other. (A continuation of the ‘Dance’ chapter.)
> 
> Warning(s): None
> 
> Age: Teens

Oftentimes, when Luke had any sort of busywork to do, he liked to listen to the radio. While there were, of course, more modern options to listen to music, he found himself liking his radio best. Possibly for the nostalgia of how he used to listen to it when he was with Hershel, when he didn’t have any work for him to do. But, no matter the reason, the radio filled the silence, and that was enough of a reason for him.

That particular day, he had been going through some old files, sitting at the kitchen table and looking for a particular paper that may help him with his current case, when a familiar set of opening notes to a song began. Luke perked up for a moment, before writing it off, thinking it must be something similar, so his eyes lit up when the lyrics he had expected began to play. He put down the papers he had been working through, and stood up, calling, “Crow, come here!!”

His husband came into the kitchen only a moment later, standing in the doorway with a curtly curious expression. “What’s up?”

Luke rushed over to Crow, taking his hand and pulling him to the kitchen table where the radio sat, before excitedly motioning to it. “It’s been forever since you’ve heard this song, yes?”

After taking a few moments to listen to the tune, Crow’s eyes lit with familiarity and surprise. “Woah, yeah.”

Luke nodded, and clung to his husband’s arm, leaning onto him lightly. “This came on after the Cupid Shuffle, during that dance, remember?”

Crow snorted. “Wow, I didn’t even remember that. Sharp memory.”

In response, Luke giggled, blushing slightly. “Ah, not really... I only remember this song coming on after because I wanted to ask you to dance with me.” He smiled shyly to himself. “But, it’s a bit slow, and... Well, I was afraid it would have been weird to ask another boy to dance to a slow song, on top of just being nervous about being close to you... But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t want to.”

“Really?” Crow’s face flushed slightly, though he tried to play it off. “‘Cause...” He chuckled, and glanced away. “I came to the dance to ask you to dance... But I couldn’t bring m’self to.”

“Is that why none of your friends were there?”

“I told ‘em not to come. I was afraid that I’d chicken out if I knew my friends were watching... Turns out I’m just a chicken, and I can’t blame my friends being around.”

Luke smiled, and adoration shined in his eyes. Sometimes, he forgot how long Crow had feelings for him. So, when he talked about why he did certain things because of those feelings for him, it was like a reminder of how long they had loving emotions when it came to the other.

As kids, it was Luke being oblivious and writing off his feelings, and Crow being bad at emotions and snapping out of embarrassment. As young teens, it was Luke and Crow both having intense feelings for each other, but both of them being to afraid to say so. As older teens, it was Luke and Crow awkwardly trying to hide their relationship; kissing behind closed doors, holding hands under the table. Now, as adults...

Luke brought his hand to brush across his wedding band, and felt himself smile gently.

He felt a sudden burst of energy, and Luke latched onto Crow tighter, his eyes wide with excitement. “Hey! If you wanted to dance with me, and I wanted to dance to this song, we could dance now!” Before Crow could even respond, Luke was hugging him close, resting his head on his chest.

“Luke...” There was a nervous chuckle in Crow’s voice. “I can’t slow dance, even now.”

“That’s okay, it’s easy to catch on!”

“I’m bad at dancing in general.”

“Yeah, so am I.”

“You’re gonna regret this once I step on your foot.”

Luke rolled his eyes with a giveaway smile, before, despite Crow’s disagreements, he cuddled up as close as possible before swaying and stepping in tune with the song.

If Luke hadn’t picked up on Crow’s nervousness beforehand, he would have been surprised to hear his heart hammering when he pressed an ear to his chest. On top of that, Crow did seem to have no idea what he was doing; stumbling in attempts to mimic what Luke was doing. It made Luke giggle.

In hopes of perhaps calming him a bit, Luke spoke. “If you had wanted to dance with me back then, you could have just done it with a fast song.”

“Yeah, I guess, but... Dunno, everything with you felt fast.” Crow seemed to struggle with his words, less from nerves, but from trying to say it right. “Your moods change quickly, you walk quickly, your visits seemed quick... Everything felt fast...”

There was a long pause, before Crow muttered, barely audible above the music, “I guess I just wanted to slow down and... Be with you, in that moment.”

This was immediately followed by a, “Ugh, that sounds cheesy, m’sorry,” but he couldn’t see Luke’s expression. How it changed, how his face went a gentle pink and his eyes shone with a goofy grin. Luke stopped moving, and Crow followed suit, thinking it was a part of the dance, but Luke instead stopped leaning on his chest, looking up to him with a sweet little smile.

“Well, then, let’s be slow together,” he murmured, still with that obviously lovestruck expression, before bringing his hands to cup Crow’s face, and standing on his toes to lock lips with his husband.

Usually, kisses between them were quick, on the cheek or a ‘good morning’ kiss. So, when Luke deliberately made a point to move slowly with the kiss, it was rare and special. Luke could feel Crow’s breath deepening, relaxing.

So much time had passed since that school dance, with the two of them blushing for the other with racing hearts. Both wanting to dance, but too shy to ask. They’ve gone through so much together, good and bad.

‘But still,’ Luke thought, feeling unadulterated adoration well up in his heart, ‘He loves me.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The description of this prompt said to write a sequel to a previous chapter!
> 
> And, with that, this challenge is over! I know that these two aren’t the most popular ship in the whole world, but that’s partly why I chose them. They’re so precious and good together, and I wanted to contribute to the few shippers there are.
> 
> I’ve really loved everyone’s comments on this little series, and I hope they keep coming! When I didn’t feel inspired, I went back to them, and it helped to motivate me.
> 
> Lastly, I really hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading until the end!


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